ABOUT NYS TITLE INSURANCE

New York State carefully regulates the price of Title Insurance so that it is uniform. It is illegal to charge extra fees for the title insurance or to offer incentives to lending institutions or buyers. The premium is paid one time only.

Since the price for title insurance is regulated by the State, it’s easy to assume that all title insurance companies are also pretty much alike. Nothing could be further from the truth. While title insurance policies may look the same once they’re written, the care with which the title search is conducted differentiates one company from another. The research and attention to detail that goes into writing a policy can vary tremendously. Such variations can affect your risk now—and for years to come.

The title search is the first step in securing title insurance. The search is a detailed examination of the history of the property obtained by looking through a variety of deeds, records and files. The purpose is to make sure the seller has the right to transfer ownership and to check that there are no claims, errors, assessments, debts or other restrictions on the property. Once the search is complete, we prepare a Commitment to Insure. This commitment, which is sometimes called a “binder” or “title report,” includes a summary of the search results, conditions that must be met in order to insure the transaction, and an agreement to issue a title insurance policy once the premium is paid.

It is not uncommon for us to search hundreds of sources—including tax records, federal, state and local records, court judgments, surveys and more—in our drive to protect our clients from things that may have happened in the past. This meticulous attention to every detail distinguishes our companies in the marketplace.