Protecting Your Investment

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Whether you're purchasing a home, a business, or farm or ranch land, property is one of the largest investments any of us can make. While you purchase homeowner's insurance to protect from fire and theft, and flood insurance from water damage, title insurance protects your investment against hidden title hazards that may threaten your financial investment. The title to your home, business, or farm or ranch land may have existing limitations on your ability to occupy and use the property, which could lead to financial loss if you aren't aware of such limitations. Title insurance from Gregory County Title Company protects against these and other title hazards.  

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Types of Title Insurance

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Owner’s Policy

Owner’s title insurance assures the owner that the title to the property is properly vested and that it is free from defects, liens, and encumbrances, except those listed as exceptions in the policy. Owner’s title insurance lasts for as long as the policyholder – or their heirs – have an interest in the insured property. 

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Lender’s Policy

Most lenders require title insurance as security for their investment in real estate, just as they require borrowers to have homeowner’s insurance. When lender’s title insurance is provided by us, lenders are willing to provide mortgages to customers because the lender is informed of any defects, liens, or encumbrances on the property and is informed of the lender's priority for its current or potential mortgage. 

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What Does Title Insurance Really Protect?

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Other types of insurance that protect your home focus on possible future damage and charge an annual premium. Title insurance protects against loss from defects that already exist in the title and is purchased with a one-time premium.  Title insurance focuses on risk elimination before insuring. It gives the policy holder the best possible opportunity for avoiding title claim and loss.

 

At Gregory County Title Company, the title insurance process begins with a search of public land records affecting the real estate. Our licensed abstracters conduct an examination on behalf of our underwriter, Chicago Title Company, to determine whether the property is insurable. The examination from a search is intended to fully reveal and report all defects to the title. Often, documents that don’t clearly transfer title are found in the “chain,” or history that is assembled from the records in a search, including deeds, mortgages, judgments, liens, easements, and pending legal proceedings. Through the search and the examination, title problems are discovered and disclosed to the owner and lender so they can be corrected whenever possible.