Video Transcript:
What is a guaranteed title search? This is Dave at AFX Title. If you're buying a title search from a title abstractor or from a title researcher, you may want to have that search guaranteed. Now, in almost every state, a title search can be guaranteed up to the amount that was paid for the search. If you pay $200 or $250 for a title search by a title abstracting firm, their guarantee cannot exceed the amount that you paid for. So the worst thing that can happen is if there's something in error that was supposed to be covered on that search, you can receive the amount back that you paid for it. If the search is guaranteed for more than that, let's say you have a $5,000 or $10,000 guarantee, that product is now officially defined as a title insurance policy because the law says that if you're guaranteeing something for more than what was paid for. It's a title insurance policy, which now triggers all of the licensing requirements for a title insurance policy -where now, instead of just a title search, you may need a survey, you may need underwriting, and you also have to pay the title insurance policy amount. You can't just go with a title search. You have to have a full-blown title insurance policy, which can range in the thousands of dollars. So make sure if you are buying a title search, it's guaranteed the amount of the payment for that product, but also that it's done by a reputable title abstractor or a certified title abstractor to make sure that that search is done properly and the records are pulled and all of the records that need to be reviewed to go into that search are included. It's not just looking at some electronic or online data. If you have questions about researching title records or title documents in general, you can us at our website at titlesearch.com.