Q. My lawyer has advised me that I should obtain title insurance on the property for my new home at a cost of a couple of hundred dollars. What is this all about?
A. Title Insurance is a product offered by several companies in Canada that are relatively new to the market. Under the old system in Ontario, your lawyer would have to write letters to various authorities to verify that taxes, water, zoning, works orders and others possible deficiencies to the property did not exist. This cost our clients several hundred dollars and made the purchase process much more complex. It also involved reliance upon a survey to the property, which often was out of date and did not represent the present day boundaries. It made the purchase of a property in a firmly established downtown neighbourhood an exercise of considerable complexity and concern. Along comes title insurance where you purchase a policy on a one-time basis when you buy the property and they guarantee for the time that you own the house that basic title-based deficiencies will be covered. An added feature is that if someone fraudulently comes along and places a mortgage on the property, the title insurance company will advocate on your behalf.
– Jeffrey D. Cowan is with Cowan & Taylor, Barristers & Solicitors. The info in this article
should not be relied upon as legal advice.
