Page 13 - California Home Buyers Handbook

Is an Owner’s Policy Worth the Investment?

Title Insurance is based on loss prevention. A typical title search involves searching public records as well as our
own Title Plant. No other insurance does this level of due diligence before issuing a policy.

When there is a claim against the title policy it is often due to a title defect that was undetected during the title
search. The most common problems are FRAUD and FORGERY. When there is a loss it is usually significant and
oftentimes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Some of the Risks Covered By Title Insurance Policy

The following are risks covered by a Homeowner’s form • You are forced to remove or remedy your existing struc-
of title insurance policy (subject to insuring provisions, tures, or any part of them, because any portion was
exclusions, exceptions and the conditions and stipula- built without obtaining a building permit or because
tions): they violate existing zoning law or zoning regulation.

• Someone else claims to have rights affecting your • Your existing improvements made after the policy
title arising out of forgery, fraud or impersonation. date, including lawns, shrubbery or trees, are damaged
because of the future exercise of a right to use the
• Someone else owns an interest in your title or has a surface of the land for the extraction development of
recorded lien or encumbrance on your title. minerals, water or any other substance.

• Someone else has rights affecting your title arising out • Someone else tried to enforce a discriminatory
of leases, contracts or options. covenant, condition or restriction which is based upon
race, color, religion, gender, handicap, familial status or
• Someone else has an easement on the land or re- national origin.
corded right to limit your use of the land.
• A document upon which your title is based is invalid
• You are forced to correct or remove an existing viola- because it was not properly signed, sealed,
tion of any covenant, condition or restriction affecting acknowledged, delivered or recorded.
the land.
• The residence with the address shown is not located
• Because of an existing violation of a subdivision law or on the land.
regulation affecting the land:
• You are unable to obtain a building permit.
• You are forced to correct or remove the violation.
• Someone else has a legal right to, and does,
refuse to perform a contract to purchase the
land, lease it or make a mortgage loan on it.

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