When most people think about title insurance, they imagine it as a one-time document you receive after closing that your lawyer tells you to keep with your other closing documents.
But here’s the truth: title insurance is not just a form—it’s a shield, and one that protects you on both ends of a real estate transaction, before and after the ink is dry.
Title insurance is designed to safeguard against problems that could jeopardize ownership rights, from liens and unpaid taxes to forged documents and unknown heirs. But its value goes far beyond issuing a policy.
It plays an essential role at two key stages of a real estate deal: the front end (before closing) and the back end (after closing).
Front-End Protection: The Title Search
Before a title policy is ever issued, the title company conducts a comprehensive search of any claims against the property, including potential tax liens and judgments against the seller or the buyer. If anything precedes the ownership rights of either, it could affect the buyer’s ability to avoid claims against their rights in the property. Even divorce proceedings could affect title, as well as prior bankruptcies and any pending lawsuits.
The search involves reviewing public records to confirm the seller actually owns the property and that there are no existing legal issues, like unpaid taxes, mortgages, judgments, or easements that could interfere with ownership. But there is also a necessary check of the buyer as well. Let’s say that there is a tax lien against the Buyer of which they are unaware. That lien could put the right of the Buyer’s mortgage or Buyer’s ownership interest to be second in line to the lien.
This part of the process is critical. Without it, buyers could unknowingly inherit major legal and financial problems tied to the property. Title insurance companies are incentivized to get this right, because if they don’t, they’re on the hook. Their due diligence becomes your protection. Ironically, the knowledge an attorney has about their client might be important in ascertaining title issues.
Back-End Protection: The Policy Itself
Even with the most thorough search, issues can still surface after closing.
Title insurance is there to protect your clients from the unexpected. Imagine discovering, years later, that a long-lost heir claims ownership of a client’s home, or that a previous lien wasn’t properly discharged. These things happen, and when they do, the title insurance policy steps in.
Depending on the nature of the claim, the policy may cover legal fees, financial losses, or even help defend ownership in court. It gives homeowners peace-of-mind that their investment is secure, and lenders confidence that their collateral is protected.
Not All Policies (or Professionals) Are Equal
The quality of your title insurance experience is only as good as the professionals handling your deal.
Some attorneys treat title as an afterthought, whereas I treat it as a core part of my clients’ protection strategy. When a title agent is not an attorney, the level of detail that an attorney might have could be lost and an exception against title might be missed.
I review the exceptions listed on the title commitment, work closely with underwriters, and make sure their policy truly covers what it should. If there are issues, we don’t just flag them—we resolve them.
Title insurance isn’t just a form provided to you at closing. It’s a combination of thorough investigation and lasting protection that shields clients from risk long after they’ve moved in.
An experienced real estate attorney knows how to interpret title commitments, spot red flags, and work directly with title companies to resolve issues before they delay or derail a closing.
The Minchella & Associates Difference
With over 40 years of experience in Illinois real estate law, Erica Minchella has represented thousands of home sellers and buyers, landlords, and commercial and investment property
