Title Insurance and How It May Protect You
What is Alberta Title Insurance?
When purchasing a property in Alberta, you may be asked to purchase a number of insurances and the Title Insurance policy will most likely be brought up.
Although, the title insurance policy is not required in Alberta, it does have a list of valuable coverages that may benefit you in the long run.
A title insurance will protect you from most situations that may affect your title insurance.
What does Title Insurance Cover?
Title insurance may help you by protecting you against any previous or future problems that relate to the title of your property.
Title insurance is different from any other insurances, it comes at a one-time fee and can cover your home for the entire period. It may cover the following:
- Future title fraud or forgery
- May cover Gap Coverage – protects the buyers and lenders interest when the transaction is closing
- Deficiencies that may not show on the Real Property Report such as unidentified builder liens or utility easements
- Encroachment of the owned property
Generally, a title insurance is a method to financially protect buyers and borrowers when a problem arises that may affect the title insurance.
Types of Title Insurances
There are two types of title insurance that will either cover your owners title or your lenders title.
Owners Title Insurance
The owners title insurance will protect the homeowner(s) property. Owners title insurance may cover title or non-title issues.
Make sure you know the limitations and coverages of this title insurance before choosing to purchase it.
Please ensure that all issues or defects must be disclosed before acquiring a title insurance.
Lenders Title Insurance
Lender title insurance will financially protect the mortgage company from most losses resulting from deficiencies of a title. The lender title insurance is required by some lenders but in most cases, the borrower will pay for the lenders title insurance.
If there was some form of forgery, fraud or anything of the listed above coverage, the payout will be just enough to cover the losses for the mortgage company.
The lender title insurance will not financially protect the homeowner and we suggest getting the owner title insurance if you are the owner of a property.
Is Title Insurance Right For You?
If you feel that the coverages above will suit your needs, we suggest you purchase a title insurance to financially protect your property.
If you choose to use Shim Law for any Calgary Real Estate services, our lawyers will always suggest you an option of buying title insurance.
Please keep in mind that the title insurance will not cover any already existing defects.
Where can I purchase title insurances?
We strongly recommend you speak with one of our lawyers when purchasing a title insurance as we can do all the leg work and efficiently add the title insurance to your property. Most title insurance companies will not sell privately to a homeowner.
For more information regarding title insurance, please contact our Calgary Real Estate Lawyers now by calling (403) 476 – 2011 or booking a consultation online.
