Business Law
(Contracts, Incorporations,
LLCs, PCs & PLCs)
Vehicle & Traffic
(including tickets
and DWI arrests )
Personal Injury
Mortgage Title insurance
Robert G. Randall, Jr. is an examining counsel for Chicago and Fidelity Title Insurance Companies and conduct business as an Examining Counsel under the name of A-1 TITLE.
The Title Insurance Company, not the client, pays the Randalls for the services they render as an examining counsel. Title Insurance rates are fixed by the New York State Insurance Department and must be uniformly charged by all title companies (i.e., it costs you the same wherever you purchase it). The fee is paid by the client to the Title Insurance Company once and lasts for as long as the client owns the property and for certain claims made after the party’s sale. If purchased, the title company defends the title, pays the legal fees of defending the claim and if there is a loss, pays the client their equity in the property.
There are two (2) different kinds of title insurance policies. One insures the interests of the Lender, known as the Mortgagee Title Insurance Policy. The other insures the Purchaser, known as the Fee Title Insurance Policy. The Insurance Department requires a significant price reduction (70%) when both policies are purchased simultaneously. Since the lender requires the purchaser to purchase a Mortgagee Title Insurance Policy insuring the lender’s interest at the closing we recommend that the purchaser purchase the Fee Policy, if they want it, at the same time in order to take advantage of the cost savings. Prior to the closing, we forward a brochure that explains the insurance in greater detail. Some of the most common instances of risks protected by an Owner’s Title Insurance Policy are: false impersonation of the owner of the property; forged deeds, releases or wills; undisclosed or missing heirs; instruments executed pursuant to an expired or otherwise invalid or revoked power of attorney; mistakes in recording legal documents; misinterpretations of wills; deeds by persons of unsound mind, minors or persons allegedly single but actually married and liens for unpaid taxes (either gift, inheritance or income taxes).
