Title Insurance

In NJ you must have a title insurance producer's license in order to effect or sell title insurance.

A "resident" producer's license is for someone residing (a resident) in the state of New Jersey.

A "foreign" producer's license would be someone living outside of NJ, but effecting or selling title insurance.

A licensed title producer can: perform title examinations, prepare title commitments/binders, give title insurance quotes, sell title insurance products/services, perform real estate closings/settlements and issue title insurance policies.

Anyone receiving title insurance commissions must be licensed, including attorneys.

A non-licensed person working in a title agency may perform administrative acts only that do not involve the above, which are considered "effecting and selling" title insurance.

A resident producer is licensed bi-annually and required to take Continuing Education during each licensing period.

This information was not disclosed at the time of purchase. Shouldn's title insurance cover this?

The Atlantic School of Insurance is an Insurance School in NJ that offers Title Insurance as well as Pre-licensing and continuing education for Life and Health, Property and Casualty, Series 6, Series 7, Series 63 and Bailbonds.

Most lender insurance is $2.50 per $1000 of the loan and owner's insurance (which includes lender's insurance as well) is $3.75 per $1000 of the sale price of the home plus $175. It's not fixed or regulated in MA, so prices may vary. So, if you paid $355,000 for a home, owner's & lender's insurance combined would be $1,506.25 at these prices. If you got a loan for 95% of the cost ($337,250) and didn't want owner's insurance, the cost of lender's insurance would be $843.13.

Lender's insurance is mandatory, owner's is optional. Owner's lasts until you sell the home, I believe lender's would have to be purchased again if you refinanced.

Yes

No, Florida law does not require that title insurance be issued. The only requirement to transferring title, is that a proper deed be recorded. However, having said that, if you are buying a property from someone, title insurance is greatly recommended. Title Insurance is the only thing that protects you in the event you receive a fraudulent title, or you later find out that there are undisclosed liens or encumbrances against the title. I would never buy any property without the protection of a title insurance policy. If, on the other hand, your parents are transferring to you their property, and you already know the history of the title, title insurance would not be needed.

Contact the agency that issued your notary certificate, they will have state specific information for you along with what steps to follow.

You can also try the National Notary Association for more information: www.nationalnotary.org (they have an 800# and you don't have to be a member to ask questions!).

Yes, virtually all lenders' underwriting requirements call for lender's title insurance for a refinance.

Yes. When you refinance you must order a title search from a title company. It is part of the closing costs. It tells the bank if there is any liens, judgment against your property and gives the bank a detailed look of the history of your property. The bank will order this so you don't actually contact a title company yourself, in fact if you do you will probably have to pay for it twice so do not order it yourself. Let your bank handle that. If you are upset because you have to pay for that remember, the bank is funding you in most cases more then you have invested in your house. They want to make sure your property as absolutely no discrepancies because they are holding more risk on your property then you are. No matter what bank you go to it is an absolute must when it comes to refinancing.

Visit the New Jersey Department of Insurance and Banking website. There is a listing of qualified schools there. The State of New Jersey requires that you take a 20 hour course plus pass the licensing exam. Highly recommend that a longer (40-60 hour) course be taken instead. Typical cost for the classes range from $300.00 to $800.00 including cost of text book, depending on the school.

Florida law requires a qualified title examiner. This can be either an attorney, or a licensed title agent.

To begin with the title company should have "cleared" the title by collecting for any necessary items to be paid off at close, and by resolving any ownership questions far in advance of closing. If by "not clearing the title after close" you mean that they did not record required documents or payoff any encumberances, if they collected money for these items they must be paid off immediately after closing, and documents must also be recorded in a timely matter. If the reason for them not clearing the title is that something was unavailable and the company performed the actions that their underwriter requires, they may have a valid reason to ask for more money after closing. A good example of this is when a title company obtains a payoff for a mortgage good past the day of close and when they forward the fund to payoff that mortgage, an item such as escrowed insurance has been paid since the time the payoff was issued. It would be fair for the title company to ask the seller for more money in this case. Further, there are certain affidavits that the seller signs at close agreeing that they have not encumbered the property further during the contract period. If this proves to be incorrect, the seller would certainly owe any related expenses. Basically, as long as a title company followed procedure, most mistakes in this area are ones that they can come back legitimately to the seller for recourse. Now, on the other hand, if a title company has collected money to payoff liens, mortgages, etc., and doesn't send the money in a timely matter, they would be responsible for any additional expense incurred to payoff those items.

An Exam refers to the examination of Public Records relating to the property in question. Most states now allow Public records to be viewed online far enough back for Title Insurers to obtain clear title or reveal any title defects that would need to be corrected before the transaction can be completed. There are still states out there though that require someone to physically go to the courthouse and examine the recorded Public Records. Therefore, costs of the exams vary radically. Florida, however, has just determined that the exam should be included in the cost of the Title Insurance and cannot be shown as a separate charge on the Settlement Statement. The examination does not appear in the Title Commitment, so I hope I have provided the information you were looking for.

Let's start with defining title COMPANY vs title AGENCY. A title company is the actual company underwriting and insuring the title policy. Title companies then have agents who sell and negotiate title products in their behalf (think of it as equal to Allstate (the company) having the local Allstate agent) At this point in time, most title companies are also in the business of selling title products directly and in competition with their agents. However, there are more direct title agencies to obtain title insurance services from at a local level than title companies. So, the answer is yes, title companies can also be SELLING title services and products in addition to underwriting and insuring title insurance policies.

Yesm, as a buyer of property (even with a warranty deed), you should require the seller to obtain title insurance to back up its claim of ownership. Otherwise, when you receive their worthless ownership in the form of a deed, without title insurance, you might never recover the cost of the property, when it happens to belong to someone else you never heard of.

Similarly, as a buyer, you will want title insurance for your own peace of mind; knowing that you won't have to pay to quiet title, or sue the sellers on the warranty, in the event there is ever a dispute.

As a lender, you must insist on title insurance, to protect the value of your security interest against seizure by someone with a better claim than your borrower.

Based on the state where you live, you may be required to be licensed as a title insurance producer in order to actually work as a title sales representative. Please check with your state licensing requirements. After that issue is addressed, selling title insurance products and services is just like any other sales position. You should be knowledgable about your product, services offered, turn around time, etc. Some states like NY and NJ have state filed rates for premiums. Other states do not. In states not dictated by filed rates, you can charge your clients whatever is a "reasonable" charge for your products, including ancellary and pass through charges. Be advised though, that even in non-filed states, RESPA watch dogs all charges and how you conduct business. So no matter what, you must be familar with RESPA guidelines for settlement and title charges in your local area. Being a good salesperson means face time with your clients and lots of follow up to make sure that the rest of your staff is giving them the level of service you promised. Your book of business is your livelihood. Remember that people like doing business with people they like. Remember to over deliver and under promise. Create a good business to business network with industry partners. Title sales are very much like any other commissioned sales position (mortgage lending, real estate, etc.). You can negotiate your split of the premiums based on your production and sales levels. Based on geographic areas, and how hard you want to work, it is not unusual to see 6 figure incomes for title sales people, at least on the East and West Coasts.

A title search or examination will uncover any judgments, mortgages, taxes, assessments, charges, or other liens which may encumber or adversely affect the title of a property. In particular, a historical search or examination will be made of the prior owners of the property. Once the examiner or searcher has completed this process, the title company will compile the information and prepare a Title Commitment that reports on the status of title. The Commitment will list as exceptions or exclusions to title all encumbrances, liens, or other adverse matters that were found. This process is completed before you purchase the property. If these matters are not cleared up or resolved by the end of the closing or settlement, the matters will be excepted from the coverage provided by the title policy, and the policy will not cover any loss caused by or arising from the excepted matters.

Unless the title company takes a specific exception in the title policy, the policy will protect you from having a financial loss because of, or arising from matters such as someone else owning your home, a forgery or fraud in the prior title, lack of legal access to the property, or the existence of undisclosed liens such as taxes, mortgages, assessments or charges, as well as many other matters which affect the ownership of the property.

In a real estate-related capacity, a title processor is typically the person in a title agency who creates the new file, inputs known information into the file, orders property searches as well as the mortgage payoff information and any other items that need clearances (such as judgments, child support payments, etc.) The title processor may also be responsible for gathering documents from all parties involved prior to the closing and working on the file post-closing before the final Title Policy(ies)is issued.

In most states the title processor is not the title officer or attorney examining the title and producing Commitment or Opinion Letter.

If the car was stored for any length of time before the title transfer, the answer is yes. * If the proceeds from the sale of the vehicle (not simply the value of the vehicle) did not cover the storage fees, the storage company could sue for the amount still owed, unless there was a contract where deficiency recovery was waived.