There are times when problems occur with a property title that are unclear or inadvertently overlooked in public records and the title search process. An Owner’s Policy of Title Insurance protects the buyer in these unfortunate proceedings.

Owner’s Title Insurance or more commonly known as an Owner’s Policy is normally supplied in the value of the property purchase. A onetime fee is charged at closing and extends throughout ownership of the property. The buyer is fully protected with an Owner’s Policy should an issue surmount with the title.

There are several possible hidden title problems that may occur such as undisclosed heirs. Acuity explains such an example in the following story and will continue to share potential tales over the course of August.

Conflicting Wills

An Owner’s Policy of Title Insurance can be the saving grace especially during times of family conflict. An example of such a case resides in the following case.

After purchasing a residence, the excited new homeowner was startled when the brother of the seller claimed ownership. He demanded a substantial amount of money due to his argued ownership interest. The case was brought to probate court where disclosure revealed that the late mother of the brother wrote in a deed that the house was his. The written deed was placed in the brother’s drawer and never recorded at the courthouse. The deed was discovered twenty years later by the brother who now filed the deed and claimed his homeownership.

The probate court decision granted permission to remove the property from the late mother’s estate and the brother and homeowner who resided in the home after the mother’s death. The brother with the deed from his drawer appealed probate judgment and claimed the mother intended the house for him and not his sibling.

The court appeal was upheld and the once excited new owner lost the house and significant financial loss. The saving grace was the Owner’s Policy of Title Insurance purchased during sale of the home from the original brother. The title insurance company paid the claim, legal fees, and additional defense charges.

Stay tune for next week’s blog that shares another account of a common title insurance problem.
Acuity National Real Estate Solutions, LLC provides its clients the best of both worlds-old-fashioned professional excellence supplemented by the cutting edge technology necessary for an optimized process and smooth, speedy transactions. In today’s market, you need an agile title and closing partner that can still keep its feet on the ground. To learn more about Acuity’s services, contact us at https://ftgclosings1.wpengine.com/support.

The real estate market has gained some air after the housing bubble burst, but the effects leave many states oxygen deprived.

The past two years have seen the most recovery with United States housing prices back to pre-burst times and foreclosures have descended.

Core Logic, a global property data firm, released figures about national real estate in the foreclosure process stating less than 650,000 are in some stage of the procedures versus one million homes just one year ago. That is a 35% decrease in foreclosure inventory.

Positive news is encouraging yet the foreclosure rate remains high in several states. According to CoreLogic, the U.S. states that account for approximately half of all foreclosures for the past year are Florida, Michigan, Texas, California, and Georgia. To slow the process down further many hard hit foreclosure states like Florida, New York, and New Jersey have laws requiring court approval before mortgage lenders can proceed with foreclosure procedures.

Jurisdiction laws are in place to protect homeowners who may have had their home taken away unjustifiably but are also slowing down the process to get those homes back on the market. There is concern over whether or not the current recovery pace can be maintained with the complexities surrounding the foreclosure market in judicial foreclosure states.

Banks are also feeling the pressure of the large foreclosure caseload. Many have neglected to keep proper real estate closing documentation. Thus, numerous homes in the proceedings remain stagnant because Banks often decide against repossession without informing homeowners of their decision. Homeowners, frequently desert their homes under the assumption they are no longer have the right to ownership and possession of their home. The home becomes what is called a zombie foreclosure, where the mortgage lender or Bank initiates foreclosure proceedings and then dismisses the foreclosure without notice.

It is estimated by the real estate data firm, Realtytrac that 21% of all homes in the foreclosure process are now zombie foreclosures. The timeline to complete court proceedings or process these properties back to the homeowners is unforeseeable.

There is more complication with the value of many homes being much lower than homeowner mortgage debt. Core Logic estimates 6.3 million or 12.7% of U.S. homes are valued at a price much lower than the credit advanced to homeowners. The new laws and regulations established by the banking system due to the bubble burst amongst many other factors have indicated it is highly unlikely for homes to reach the price gains as experienced prior to the climax of the real estate market. Consequently, a slow recovery is in the future of zombie foreclosures, values lower than mortgage debt, and the broader U.S. economy.

The real estate market has seen progress in the recent two years yet the housing bubble leftovers may linger for a while to come.