Title insurance protects your ownership of a property from problems that happened before you bought it, like forged deeds, missing heirs, or old liens that were never released. You pay one premium at closing, and an owner’s policy protects you for as long as you or your heirs own the home. In Texas, the state sets the premium, so every title company charges the same rate for the same policy.
What title insurance covers
- Forged or faked documents anywhere in the property’s history, including deeds signed by someone impersonating the owner.
- Missing signatures. Deeds signed without a required spouse in a community property state like Texas, or by someone without legal authority.
- Unknown heirs. A relative of a past owner who surfaces later with a claim to the property.
- Liens that were never released. Old mortgages, tax liens, HOA liens, or contractor liens that should have been cleared but were not.
- Recording and indexing errors in the county records that hid a problem from view.
If a covered claim arises, the policy does two things: the underwriter defends your title in court, and it pays covered losses. Either one of those alone can be worth many times the premium.
Owner’s policy vs. loan policy
There are two policies in most financed purchases. The loan policy protects only the lender, up to the loan balance, and lenders require it. The owner’s policy protects your equity, and it is the one that protects you. When both are issued together at closing, the loan policy is steeply discounted, which is why they are almost always bought as a pair.
What it does not cover
- Problems that arise after your purchase, like a lien from a contractor you hire next year.
- Matters listed as exceptions in Schedule B of your title commitment, such as recorded easements and subdivision restrictions. You receive that list before closing, and we are glad to walk through it with you.
- The physical condition of the home. Title insurance is not an inspection or a home warranty.
Why you need it even when the title search is clean
A title search reads the public records, and the records are made by humans across decades of sales, probates, divorces, and do-it-yourself paperwork. Most problems are caught and cured before closing. Title insurance exists for the ones that cannot be seen in the records at all, like a forgery from twenty years ago. For a one-time premium, that risk becomes the underwriter’s problem instead of yours.
If every company charges the same rate, what is different?
Service. Since the premium is identical everywhere in Texas, the difference between title companies is how fast they move, how clearly they communicate, and how well they solve problems when a file gets complicated. That is the entire basis on which we ask people to choose us. Curious how the process works? Start with our FAQ or the glossary of title terms.
Questions about a commitment or policy? Call (972) 528-6071 or email info@cnattitle.com.