Seaport Title Agency, Inc.

Title Insurance....What It Is.

Fire insurance protects you against losses from fire. Collision insurance guards you against the cost of a damaged car. Theft insurance--well, you get the idea.

Title insurance protects your title to real estate that you are about to acquire. To understand why title protection is essential, we need to consider real estate for a moment.

Your Ownership of Real Estate

Real estate has always been considered man's most valuable possession. It is so basic a form of wealth that many special laws have been enacted to protect ownership of land and the buildings which stand on the land. You should realize whenever you buy property that the owner who is selling it to you has extremely strong rights as do his family and heirs. Also, there may be others--in addition to the owner--who have "rights" in the property you are going to buy, perhaps governmental bodies, or contractors, for example.

Some of the things a title search uncovers are any unpaid taxes or mortgages, judgments against previous owners, easements, and many other court actions or recorded documents which can affect title to real estate. We find and report such defects in the title to the real estate you wish to buy, so that these matters can be corrected and cleared up. It is the first benefit you receive when title insurance is ordered.

How Does a Title Insurance Policy Protect Against These Damages?

If a claim is made against your title as covered by your policy, Fidelity National Title protects you by:

1. Defending your title, in court if necessary, at our expense.

2. Bearing the cost of settling the claim if it proves valid, in order to perfect your title and keep you in possession of your property.

Title insurance is an assurance that every possible cloud on the title land you are buying--which can be discovered from the public records--has been called to your attention so that such defects can be corrected before you buy. And--

It is insurance that, if any undisclosed claim covered by your policy arises out of the past to threaten your ownership of real estate, it will be disposed of, or you will be reimbursed, exactly as your title insurance policy provides. Likewise, the original premium is your only cost as long as you own the property! There are no annual payments to keep your Owners Title Insurance Policy in force.