CALHOUN COUNTY AND SURROUNDING COUNTIES, RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL TITLE SERVICES, INCLUDING REAL ESTATE CLOSINGS, TITLE SERVICES, TITLE SEARCHES AND TITLE INSURANCE
Our firm is a title agent for First American Title Insurance Company, Westcor Land Title Insurance Company and Old Republic National Title Insurance Company. One of the most important and significant transactions you will make during your lifetime is the purchase or sale of your home or commercial property. Once you have entered into a contract for the sale or purchase of real property, the parties to the transaction will submit the contract to a closing attorney. If the parties are represented by a realtor, the realtor will typically forward the contract to the closing attorney. Once our office receives the contract, we immediately submit the information to one of several independent title abstractors we use in the surrounding areas. The title abstractor will search the probate records in the county where the property lies and submit to our office the title notes reflecting their findings and status of the title to the property. The search will reveal any gaps in the chain of title, errors in the prior deeds, or liens upon the current or prior owners. If there is a lien, the lien must be addressed either prior to closing or paid at closing.
The title search involves several steps:
- Chain of Title. The chain of title is simply the history of the ownership of the property. It is a public record of who bought it, who sold it, and when.
- Tax Search. The abstractor will determine whether the ad valorem taxes have been paid on the property. If the taxes are delinquent, we can determine the best method for rectifying that issue.
- Judgment Liens and/or Tax Liens. The abstractor’s report will also reflect whether the current or prior owners in the chain of title have judgment or tax liens filed against them. Again, this must be addressed either prior to closing or satisfied from the closing proceeds.
- Title Commitment/Title Binder. At this point, our firm will issue a title commitment or title binder as it is sometimes called to the lender, if a lender is involved, or to the prospective purchaser if there is no lender. The title commitment will reflect all requirements which must be resolved prior to closing and prior to the issuance of the final title insurance policy.
- Final Title Insurance Policy. The final title policy should be issued without exceptions unless there will be a mortgage on the property in favor of the purchaser’s current lender. The title policy will protect the interests of the purchaser and the lender from many issues, including, but not limited to, fraud, or under coercion or duress, whereby someone in the chain of title conveyed the property fraudulently, coercion or duress. The policy will also protect against clerical errors by Court staff in recording documents in the chain of title. Further, the title policy protects against the conveyance of the property by an incompetent adult or a minor. Obviously, the probate records do not reflect whether someone in the chain of title has executed a conveyance under such circumstances so a title policy is very important in such cases.
A lender requires the issuance of a title policy on all transactions, however, obtaining an owner’s title insurance policy at closing is optional. It is always recommended that a purchaser obtain title insurance to protect their interest. The premium paid at closing is a small price for such coverage and peace of mind.