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Escrow and Title Insurance: What it is, what it means and how it is important to you, a consumer.
Title insurance is different than other types of insurance in that it insures from the date of the policy backwards, where other types of insurance insure against things happening in the future after the policy has been instated.
There are two main types of title insurance policies the owners policy and the mortgagees policy, there are other types but these are the two most commonly used in business today. |
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Kimberly Allen
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The seller of a property customarily purchases the Owners policy and it insures the buyer that they are buying the property free and clear of all unknown encumbrances. It is ordinarily paid for by the seller, but can be negotiated as part of the contract to be paid for by either party. The mortgagees’ policy is customarily purchased by the buyer and is purchased only if there is a mortgage on the property. This type of policy insures the lender that they are getting whatever position on the title that they intended to get when they loaned the money. On first mortgages it would be a first position. This type of positioning becomes important in the event that the property goes into foreclosure. The person in first position gets their money first and second gets theirs second and so on until the money is gone.
The word ESCROW means neutral depository for funds and documents. We are a disinterested third party who is responsible for maintaining a file full of all the things that make a transaction whole. The agreement, earnest money, any addendums, loan documents; and we prepare the deed that transfers title and run a title report to insure all parties receiving insurance. We are responsible for putting all the final figures together on a settlement statement. Our figures are the final ones, if you have received any figures from your realtor or lender they were estimated and preliminary figures, a title companies settlement statement is the final culmination of every parties figures. Each state in our country has their own set of rules, so if you buy or sell property on the east coast it will be different than here in Oregon.
I am the leader of a successful escrow team here at Pacific Northwest Title. I have been in the business since 1999. I started in this business because I had a bad transaction personally. I loved the real estate process and was excited to be doing what I was doing personally, and then the transaction was so bad and so stressful that I thought I wasn’t going to make it. I realized at that time what a huge impact a person who really cares about what they are doing can have on consumers. So here I am! I worked as the assistant to the legal counsel for two years, I was an escrow assistant for a year and a half and now I have been an escrow officer since 2003. I treat all of my clients with the care I wish I had received during my transaction! That simple motto has made us a very happy escrow team. From any given time I have from two to four assistants and we are all here to make every transaction as smooth as possible. Don’t get me wrong, things come up, but how we handle them will make it as painless as possible. If there is anything I can do to help you with any questions pertaining to my piece of real estate please let me know, I am always grateful and happy to help!
By Kimberly Allen
Sr. Escrow Officer
Pacific Northwest Title
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