Closings glossary
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.
How is title insurance different from homeowner's insurance?
Quick Answer
The full definition
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.
Also called: TIRSA rate policy.
Which related terms should you know?
These are the terms that come up alongside title insurance in the same file.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- TIRSA
- The rate service organization whose filed manual sets New York title insurance premiums, endorsement charges and the reissue and simultaneous issue rules.
- Title exception
- A matter the title policy does not insure against, listed on Schedule B. Some exceptions are removed before closing and others are simply accepted by the buyer.
Where does title insurance come up in a New York City closing?
An unreleased 1996 mortgage surfaces six years after a Queens purchase, and the owner's policy is what answers the cost of clearing it.
What else should you read before closing?
Questions this raises
- 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.
- What does title insurance cover?Old liens, recording errors, forged deeds, undisclosed heirs, easements: what a New York title policy covers, what Schedule B excludes, and how cla...
- How much does title insurance cost in New York?NY title premiums come from the TIRSA rate manual approved by DFS, so every licensed agent charges the same. What actually changes your closing num...
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