Video Summary

Why do I need title insurance?  Well, primarily the title insurance covers you so if there is any title defects in the property that they will pay for it.

Say, 50 years ago how you made sure that you had clear title or marketable title to the property is you relied upon an abstract to the property and then an attorney would give you a written opinion as to whether or not the title was clear after examining an abstract.

That time has long since passed because let’s say the lawyer missed something.  Well, then you would have to sue the lawyer because he did not find it or made a mistake.  And if the lawyer (A) didn’t have any money or (2) was dead or not available or moved away, well, you were stuck.

So they have come in with title insurance so now you have an insurance company to look at your title and guarantee that you have marketable title that covers any things that are missed in the search as well as things such as forgeries or things that do not appear in the public records.

But the biggest thing that title insurance does is you are assured that someone has examined the title and done a title search to see if there is anything there so it’s more of a preventative matter rather than a remedial matter.  And, therefore, it’s a small percentage of what the purchase price is.  It certainly does not cost like homeowner’s insurance.

But also, title insurance you need to hang onto it even after you sell the property because later on if there is a title defect and someone wants to sue you on the warranties that you have given under a Warranty Deed, you can then call on your title company to defend you because they insured that you had marketable title.

So the primary reason for a title policy is that you know someone has examined the title and that you are getting the property free of any liens and that it’s only subject to various easements of the Condominium’s or Homeowner’s Association which also you can ask for copies of those.  So it is informative, preventative and also gives you assurances or insurance against any defects that were missed.

So I would strongly recommend title insurance and usually the seller pays for that in the Tampa Bay area.  And in the Miami, Broward and Palm Beach area I believe that the buyer buys his own title insurance instead of the seller.

So if you have any questions about title insurance give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Is a seller required to disclose if there has been a death in the home?  This goes back to the case law that is probably 20 or 25 years ago, when the Florida Supreme Court ruled in the case of Johnson vs Davis that said the seller in the sale of residential real property that they must disclose any matters that may materially affect the value of the property and which are not readily apparent. 

That usually involves a roof repair or some physical aspect of the house that is not readily apparent such as, if you have a sinkhole and you patch the sinkhole and did not repair it or other matters that would physically affect the house that you would have to repair at a later date. 

The law has since recognized some other aspects that are more intangible and so I do not believe that simply someone passing away in the home would be something that you would have to disclose because people die at home all the time.  The question if you take it one step further, let’s say there was a homicide or even a suicide, then that creates another issue and I do not know that it is clear cut or I have not seen a case on that where a buyer has sued to say that they wanted to resend the transaction because it was not disclosed to them that there was a homicide committed in the home. 

So my reaction or my opinion, not that there is any court opinion to justify this, is that you do not have to make that disclosure and in fact I have not seen that disclosure that the realtors customarily have a seller fill out for a buyer.  In our area there is, in Tarpon Springs, a super fun toxic waste area that has been taken over and there was some question as to whether or not if you are selling property that is close to that that you would have to disclose that. 

So these are all questions that I guess would be better if you did disclose it so that you do not have to worry about the buyer ever coming back against you because it was not disclosed but I do not know that that is encompassed in the disclosure requirements or whether that really materially affects the value of the property.

So hopefully I have shed some light on the issue.  If you would like to have me assist you in the sale of your home and the disclosures, well give me a call at (727) 847-2288.