In real estate or mortgage business, a title denotes the lawful rights of ownership, control and guardianship of a property authenticated by a legal certificate also known as an 'instrument' like the receipt of sale, official document of ownership, or an ownership document. It is pertinent to mention here that a legal ownership document authorizes the proprietor to manage as well as sell the property and basically functions as a connection between the proprietor and the property.
The term 'title defect' is commonly used in the United States denoting a lawful assertion or condition that holds back the authentication of the ownership rights as well as the detection of the actual proprietor of a real estate asset. Such impediment or assertion regarding the ownership of a property is generally termed as a 'cloud on title'. It may be mentioned here that such title defects generally happen when the proprietorship or the reassignment of possession of a real estate property is not appropriately listed.
Title insurance denotes a declaration of deed or proprietorship of a real estate asset made available by a title insurer for a stipulated payment and this is generally a one-time affair. In other words, title insurance is an indemnity to shield a lender or owner against damages in the event of a property possession disagreement. It may be mentioned here that as far as the Canadian mortgage market is concerned, the term 'title insurance' is a new aspect, but it has been prevalent in the United States for long. Actually, increasing instances of title insurance somewhat appears to be a fall-out of the useless land recording methods in different states of the United States as well as a remarkable augmentation in the secondary mortgage marketplace.
It is pertinent to mention here that the term title insurance is applicable to housing as well as business real estate assets and in general engrosses two strategies. While the strategy involving the proprietor of a real estate protects him or her against issues such as deceptions, failure to market the ownership and the statutes of the local municipality that breaches the ownership rights on different grounds. However, the protection of the ownership as per the title insurance differs from one real estate market to another. On the other hand, the strategy involving the lender or mortgagee offers safeguard on the subject of security acquired through the property secured against the credit or the mortgaged asset. This protection offered against risks is especially significant while a person is transacting business in the secondary mortgage market.
It may be mentioned here that the transactions in the secondary mortgage market primarily engages sale of title and equitable mortgages (a mortgage that has not been done as per the legal necessities). Lenders or mortgagees and investors securing equitable mortgage documents need substantiation of the different issues related to the ownership of the real estate property against which a credit is being secured. The title insurance of a property merely provides a convenient and comparatively economical procedure to offer such guarantees as well as deliver suitable certification. It needs to be noted here that the insurers generally offer dissimilar indemnity documents for residential and commercial real estate assets.
There are several reasons for the augmentation in the use of this kind of insurance forms. And they include rapid development of the secondary mortgage market, specific restrictions imposed by particular provinces in the land registry method as well as the title preferences offered by the lawyers engaged in real estate transactions.
Advocators of title insurance assert that this procedure is able to make real estate deals easier for all parties concerned. Substantiating their claim, the proponents of title insurance point out that having a title indemnity policy will not only help in doing away with the need for a current survey of the property, but also enable the parties to avoid any delay in finalizing a real estate transaction. In addition, possessing title indemnity coverage is also considered to be an effective manner to steer clear of any last-ditch title defect troubles that have the potential to spoil a sale. Finally, the advocators explain the benefits of title insurance vis-à-vis the lenders. They point out that the title insurance policy help the lending organizations to obtain specific guarantees and so do succeeding lending institutions to which the mortgage is finally allocated - like the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
A title search is the assessment of court judgments, deeds, public land records and other pertinent certificates to ascertain whether the seller or mortgagor of a real estate property is the lawful owner of the asset and whether there is any impending lawful impediments like covenants, taxes, liens or other claims that may influence the worth of the property and also the marketability of the title. In brief, a title search ensures whether the seller or mortgagor of a real estate property has the legal right to sell and transfer the ownership of the asset. Usually, a title search is undertaken by a specialized title abstractor or a law clerk and the matter is evaluated by an attorney at law.
