Closings glossary
Owner's policy
Title insurance protecting the buyer's ownership interest, issued for the purchase price with a single premium. Coverage continues while the insured or their heirs own the property.
What is an owner's title policy?
Quick Answer
The full definition
Title insurance protecting the buyer's ownership interest, issued for the purchase price with a single premium. Coverage continues while the insured or their heirs own the property.
Also called: Fee policy.
Which related terms should you know?
These are the terms that come up alongside owner's policy in the same file.
- Lender's policy
- Title insurance protecting a lender's lien position, issued in the loan amount. Its coverage falls as the principal balance falls and ends when the loan is paid off.
- Title insurance
- Insurance against loss from title defects that existed before the policy date. New York premiums come from a filed rate schedule, so the figure is calculated rather than negotiated.
- Premium (title insurance)
- The one-time charge for a title policy, computed from the filed New York rate schedule by amount of insurance, plus any endorsement and search-related charges.
- Simultaneous issue
- Issuing an owner's policy and a lender's policy together on one transaction, which reduces the charge for the loan policy under the filed New York rate schedule.
- Endorsement
- An add-on that modifies a title policy's coverage for a defined risk. Endorsement charges come from the filed New York rate structure rather than from negotiation.
Where does owner's policy come up in a New York City closing?
A cash buyer of a Staten Island house has no lender and therefore no loan policy, so the owner's policy is the only title coverage on the deal.
What else should you read before closing?
Questions this raises
- Do I need an owner's title policy if my lender already requires one?A lender's policy protects the bank, not you, and ends when the loan is paid. What an owner's policy adds on a New York purchase, and what it costs...
- What is the difference between an owner's policy and a lender's policy?An owner's policy insures the buyer for the purchase price. A lender's policy insures the bank for the loan amount. How the two differ on a New Yor...
- What is title insurance?Title insurance covers defects in a property's past: old liens, recording errors, forged deeds, undisclosed heirs. How the coverage works in New York.
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