Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Title Insurance

A contractual arrangement entered into to indemnify loss or damage resulting from defects or problems relating to the ownership of real property, or from the enforcement of liens that exist against it.

Title insurance is ordinarily taken out by a purchaser of the property, or by an individual lending money on the mortgage, in an amount equivalent to the purchase price of the property. To be entitled to coverage, the purchaser typically pays one lump sum premium, usually at the day of the closing. Title insurance companies are specially organized for this purpose. They retain complete sets of abstracts of title or duplicates of the record, hire expert title examiners, and prepare all types of conveyances and transfers. Following a title search, such companies furnish a certificate of title, indicating the findings of the title examiner with respect to the state of the title to the property involved. Title...