Countywide Title Company
What is an Owner's Policy and why do I need one?
What are some hidden risks protected under a Stewart Title Policy?
An Owner's Policy protects you, the purchaser, against a loss that may occur from a fault in your ownership or interest you have in the property. You should protect the equity in your new home with a title policy. It offers:
- Protection from financial loss due to covered claims that may be asserted against the title to your home up to the face amount of the title policy.
- Payment of legal costs if the title insurer has to defend your title against a covered claim.
- Payment of successful claims against the title to your home covered by the policy up to the face amount of the policy.
The following matters are examples of why you need a Stewart Title Insurance policy. Remember that the best title examination or search cannot protect your equity and home from matters not appearing in the public records. However, a Stewart Title policy* can protect you from:
- Documents executed under false, revoked, or expired powers of attorney
- False impersonation of the true landowner
- Undisclosed heirs
- Improperly recorded legal documents
- Failure to include necessary parties to certain judicial proceedings
- Defective acknowledgements due to improper or expired notarization
- Corporate franchise taxes as liens on corporate real estate assets
- Gaps in the chain of title
- Mistakes and omissions resulting in improper abstracting
- Inadequate legal descriptions
- Conveyances by undisclosed divorced spouses
