Video Transcript:
So what's the difference between title insurance and a title search? This is Dave at A-F-X Title, Certified Title Abstractors. A title search is a process where a title abstractor or a title examiner reviews and pulls county records, state records, and city records from books and documents and microfilm to review the history of a property to issue a title abstract. That's the official document of a title search. That will show liens, mortgages, judgments -all the important items on a property. A title insurance policy is an insurance policy like any other that you'll find it. It protects the buyer against some risk or damage that happens down the road. To underwrite a title insurance policy, the insurance company will get a title search. They're going to also get other information. They're going to probably look at the credit report of the current owner or the seller. They may also do a survey on the property. They may do an inspection on the property. They may check boundaries on the property. The title underwriting has additional steps besides the title search. In addition, the title insurance policy will exclude from coverage any existing liens, judgments, or claims that are apparent on the title. For example, if the title search reveals that there are liens on a property, those will not be covered by the title policy itself. Matter of fact, the first page of a title insurance policy is a list of all the exclusions. It'll have current year's taxes, any outstanding lien. Anything that is found or should be found on that property or even that's known by the buyer of the policy normally is excluded from coverage. So they're two different items. And the other big difference between the two is how long takes. A title search typically takes a day or two to have reviewed and analyzed and abstracted. A title insurance policy sometimes will take three to four weeks to have completely the underwriting done. If you do have questions about running a title search on real estate, you can reach us at our website at title search dot com.