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ABA Family Legal Guide

Home Ownership

Property Rights and Restrictions

Safeguarding Property Rights: Title Insurance

What isn't covered by title insurance?

Title insurance policies are fairly standard. An owner's policy usually does not cover one or more of the following matters, often referred to as standard exceptions:

  • claims of people who turn out to be living in the house, such as the prior owner's tenants or someone living there without your knowledge, if their presence there is not a matter of public record;
  • boundary-line disputes;
  • easements or claims of easements not shown by public records;
  • unrecorded mechanic's liens (claims against the property by unpaid home improvement contractors);
  • taxes or special assessments left off the public record; and
  • mineral and/or water rights (especially in the western states).

    In most states, you can get extended coverage for these standard exceptions by paying an additional premium and furnishing additional evidence to the title company, so that these exceptions from coverage can be deleted or limited. Other common exclusions from coverage include

  • zoning;
  • environmental protection laws;
  • matters arising after the effective date of the policy;
  • subdivision regulations;
  • building codes and the effect of any violation of these codes;
  • problems the insured caused or already knew about; and
  • problems not shown in the public records and not disclosed to the insurer.

    Exclusions need to be removed by special endorsements and probably will result in additional premiums. (In some states, exclusions for problems not shown in the public record cannot be removed.) Even in a policy "without exceptions," title insurers will also list as a special exception matters of record, such as subdivision restrictions, or anything they find that might turn into a claim, whether it is this year's property taxes or the power company's easement across the property. Check your current policy to see what's on the list, in case there's anything you should be concerned about.

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