You Can Choose Your Title Insurer!
Federal law prohibits your real estate agent or lender from requiring you to use a particular title company. Because the role of the title company is often misunderstood, clients generally do not know that they have the power to choose their title company.
As a consumer, you might ask:
Why would I want to choose my title company?
1) Closing a real estate deal and solving title problems often require fairly sophisticated interpersonal and legal skills. You need a title company that is experienced, competent and familiar with local custom and practice. An established local agency -- with attorneys available in the office -- is your best bet to insure a smooth closing. Here are a few questions you should pose to your title company:
- Do you maintain a title plant?
(a title plant is a private database of real estate records. Companies that compile their own database are usually more committed to and knowledgeable about the community)
- Do you have attorneys in your office? (No delays while calling counsel in a far off state or regional office)
- Do you write for more than one insurance company? (Allows price shopping and tailoring the insurance to your transaction)
- Can you provide some references?
2) You want to insure that you are getting an independent entity to handle your closing. While state and federal law requires that lenders and real estate agents disclose any interest in a title company and, in they do, provide you with a general range of rates and charges for title services, these disclosures are often misleading or buried in the fine print.
You'll probably be paying $500-$1500 for title and closing services; would you make any other purchase that size without shopping around? By all means listen to your real estate agent or lender, but call around, ask questions, and get comfortable with the people who are going to handle what is probably the biggest financial transaction in your life! The more information you have, the more control you'll have over the outcome-it's your choice!
