1. A fire could destroy your house but leave the land intact. A defective title may take
away not only the house, but also the land upon which it stands. Title Insurance protects
you (ask for specifics from your title officer), against such a loss.

2. A deed or a mortgage in the chain of title may be a forgery.

3. A deed or mortgage may have been signed by a person under age.

4. A deed or mortgage may have been made by an insane person, or a person that the
court would declare incompetent.

5. A deed or mortgage may have been made under a power of attorney agreement, after
it’s termination and would therefore be void.

6. A deed or mortgage may have been made by a person other than the owner, but with
the same name as the owner.

7. The testator of a will might have had a child born after the execution of the will, a
fact that would entitle the child to claim his/her share of the property.

8. A deed or mortgage may have been secured by fraud or duress

9. Title transferred by an heir may be subject to a federal estate tax lien.

10. An Heir or other person presumed dead may appear and recover the property or an
interest therein.

11. A judgment Levy upon which the title is dependant may be voidable on account of
some defect in the proceeding.

12. Title Insurance covers attorney’s fees and court costs (based on provisions of policy).

13. Title Insurance can help speed negotiations when your ready to sell or obtain a loan.

14. By insuring the title you can eliminate delays and technicalities when passing your
title on to someone else.

15. Title insurance reimburses you for the amount of your covered losses.

16. A deed or mortgage may be void-able because it was signed while the grantor was in
bankruptcy.

17. Each title insurance policy is written is paid up in full, by the first premium for as
long as you or your heirs own the property.

18. There may be a defect in the recording of a document upon which your title is depen-dant.

19. Claims that almost always arise during divorces or confusion of marital status, and
the validity of divorces. Only title insurance protects against claims made by nonex-istent
or divorced wives or husbands.

20. Many lawyers in giving a legal opinion on a title, protect their client as well as them-selves
by procuring title insurance.

In addition to the 20 items I have also have compiled list the things that go wrong even if title
is in order. (These are the things that can go wrong even after the deal is done and ready to
close.) I have experienced at least one or two of these problems myself over the years and have
heard of the rest of these things from other investors. I have prepared this report so that when
problems arise, you can know who to blame, and who not to. Remember when you get a trans-action
under contract, your next call should be to a title company to check the title for addi-tional
liens etc. We hope these insights save and make you more money in your business. As
always when in doubt consult with an attorney or a real estate professional.

1. Scheduling your closing either too late in the day or too late in the month can cause
your file to fall right off the edge, and quickly be delayed by a few days or so.

2. Has your party done a lot of closings before? If your client/buyer is inexperienced they
might just FREEK out a little bit when reading and signing documents that they are
familiar with. (If they are you might want to educate them or be there with them).
This depends a lot on your title/escrow officer and how well you know them, a good
title officer is good at handling specific questions and nervous buyers/and sellers.

3. Inaccurate "Good Faith Estimates" and either lack of or inaccurate "Net Sheets". This
one happens a lot and it’s almost always the title company’s fault. The title officer is
always willing to correct these problems, however I have seen problems develop when
the buyer/seller sits for long periods of time awaiting correct paperwork. I have even
seen buyer/sellers walk out because they get nervous about the transaction and "Cold
Feet" kick in, and they leave. This is why I always recommend getting a good Title and
escrow person, and use that person as much as you can to keep those lines of communication,
and accountability open.