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Title Insurance
Protect Your Investment. Whether you are a new homeowner
or if you have owned your home for years, title insurance will offer you
peace of mind that you can count on.
What does "title" mean?
When you buy a home, you are buying the title to the property. It is
sometimes also referred to as a deed. This means that you own the property
and your lawyer registers you as the owner in the land registry system.
Having "good title" to your property is important because it protects your
investment so that you will be able to sell your property in the future or
obtain financing, such as a mortgage, against your home, if needed.
What is title insurance?
Title insurance is unlike any other kind of insurance. It is not house
insurance which only protects the contents of your home or its structure and
for which you have to pay a monthly or annual premium. Unlike house
insurance, you only pay a one-time premium with no deductible.
Title insurance is distinctive in that it protects your ownership or title
against losses incurred as a result of undetected or unknown title defects,
for as long as you own your home. Even if you are the rightful owner of your
home, there are instances such as real estate title fraud, when your title
can come into question.
Courtesy First Canadian Title
For Home Buyers
What is Title Insurance?
Title insurance is a policy of insurance that provides coverage for the
title related risks associated with real estate transactions. It is designed
to cover the unpredictable or undetectable issues such as forgery, fraud,
missing heirs, etc. that can affect rights of ownership. Because it is
insurance, a title insurance policy moves the risk associated with title
from the home buyer, the lending institution or the lawyer, to the title
insurer.
If there is a problem with title that only becomes known after closing, the
title insurer may rectify the problem or compensate the title insurance
policyholder, provided the type of problem that surfaces is covered by the
title insurance policy. For more information on title insurance, you can
review the "Working With a Lawyer when you Buy a Home" brochure on
the Ontario Bar Association's Web site at
http://www.oba.org/en/pdf/lawyer1.pdf.
A title insurance policy will contain:
risks or losses the policy will cover;
risks or losses the policy will not cover; and
general terms governing the insurance coverage.*
* Some restrictions may apply. Please refer to the policy for full
details, including actual terms and conditions
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