Leaders Title Insurance & Escrow Services

When you decide to purchase a new home, you often envision your own future there. Creating a safe haven, gathering family and friends, establishing roots in your community. Perhaps next on your mind are the small repairs and renovations to make the house your own home.

Perhaps the last thing you are thinking of is your home’s past. Each house has a history, of all those who have lived there before and all the work that went into the home’s construction, upkeep, and renovation. 

Title services are necessary to help ensure that any debts incurred in your property’s past do not affect your future. A title search is conducted to determine whether issues exist and how to resolve them. The title insurance company uses the results from the title search to determine potential liabilities and, depending on its findings, issue the title insurance policy. 

Leaders Title is ready to assist you with the title search to clear your title and to help you obtain title insurance. We can also serve as the escrow provider to collect funds including any unpaid debts and liens against the title.

Below is an explanation of how each process works.

 

Title searches

We help resolve issues before they become your problems

Outstanding debts on a property (also known as ‘liens’) can be an added expense in a purchase that already stands as perhaps the largest of your life. It is important to search for these liens to ensure that the seller is made aware of them and pays them before the title is transferred into your name. This transfer is important both to you as the buyer and, if needed, your mortgage company as the loan provider.

Sellers of properties are required to report that any debts (such as liens against the house or taxes) have been paid before the sale of the property is closed. But is the seller aware of every debt and lien against the property’s title? Leaders Title conducts searches to ensure that any outstanding debts owed to entities like cities, utility companies, local tax entities, and contractors are all paid and resolved. 

Deeds to homes are often passed within families, from parents to children or other family members. Was each transfer of the house handled in the proper manner according to the owner’s last will and testament? Were all heirs’ claims fully considered and satisfied? Leaders Title’s search will review local government records and court documentation to identify any individuals who may still have a legal claim to the property that has not yet been resolved.

Leaders Title works to address any legal claim to the house’s title so that the title is clean when it is transferred to you. We are committed to conducting a thorough search of deeds, court documents, taxation history, and renovation and construction to ensure that the claim to your new home or property is yours and yours alone.

Title Insurance

Protect your home purchase from the start

Unforeseen circumstances can still result in claims against your title. What if a will entitling heirs to the property was not publicly disclosed? Or what if all the heirs were not aware of the claim during a subsequent sale? What if a contractual obligation to a construction company was not fulfilled? 

Most lenders require title insurance that provides the lender with protection in case claims are made against the title. The new owner can also use title insurance to protect their portion of the house purchase payment against claims from past activity on the house’s title.

No one wants to think about past problems affecting your new home. Title insurance protects both you and your lender from unpleasant surprises and helps safeguard the future you want to build in your new home. Invest in Leaders Title now so that you can move into your new home and move on!

 

Escrow Services

A solid foundation built on trust

The purchase agreement between a seller and buyers involves a lot of information exchanged about payments. Agreements between the two parties outline the payment responsibilities. During this complex and exciting process, who can keep track of it all so you can focus on your needs?

Leaders Title serves as an independent third party to provide escrow service. We help to collect and document these payments so that both the buyer and seller are clear where everyone stands. In this role, we serve as a neutral third party whose only interests are to represent everyone’s transactions transparently and help the deal close.

So how does the process work? Leaders Title establishes an escrow account that the buyer and seller both contribute money into to satisfy the payments required for the home purchase and title transfer. Based on the terms of the agreement between the buyer and seller, the third party documents the transaction history and makes payments out of the account to ensure a successful property purchase for all.

The unpaid taxes, debts, and liens identified during the title search will be paid off to ensure the title is clean. Your escrow agent determines who is responsible for paying them, receives the payment from them, and then pays the proper entities and individuals. 

Leaders Title provides escrow service as another way to give you peace of mind during the purchase process. Our knowledge of the title requirements and property transaction allow us to answer any questions you may have and provide clarity during a busy time for you.