COST OF INNOCENCE

It’s very expensive to be completely innocent.  I say that a lot because it’s true a lot.  Your ownership of real estate is only as strong as your ability to defend that ownership should someone else make a claim on it.  Without title insurance, if you don’t have the money for a legal defense, you could lose what is rightfully yours.  

No title insurance could mean loss of property.

When you purchase a piece of property, a title company does a title search to look for defects, to seek out other claimants on that land—and that’s a good thing, because you need that!  The title search shows obvious complications to ownership, but it is insufficient—a title search cannot disclose unrecorded risk that could exist.  

Even if the other party’s claim is completely bogus, you could lose your land if not properly defended in a court of law.  Just because you have a valid claim doesn’t mean you get to keep your property.  Litigation fees can be cost prohibitive.  Your legal defense cost can exceed the property value.  You can lose your home to an invalid title claim if you do not have title insurance to pay for your defense.  

Innocence is bliss as long as you don’t mind the risk of financial and property loss.