Home Title Insurance

[magooch]

I don't really know what to believe about the constant ads about how easy it is for crooks to fake a home title and then get loans against the property.  It seems to me that it shouldn't be the homeowners problem, but it should be up to the banks and loan companies to check the validity of the property ownership.  I suspect that the real aim is for loan agencies to be covered when they fail to certify actual owners were the applicants for a loan.

In any case, it shouldn't be that difficult for actual owners to prove their case and be held harmless.  Isn't this why we have county officials who are demanding our property taxes be paid on time?  And that brings up another issue; I am now paying more in property taxes in three years than I paid for the whole kit and kaboodle in the first place.  What has really taken place in effect is that the state has taken over ownership and they charge us rent to live in our homes.

One more thing: Why should ones property taxes be based on the value of his abode?  I get not one dimes more service from the county and state than someone living in a shack.  There should be a bonus for keeping the place up and making improvements.  Instead, we are effectively fined.

[Dee]

When I sold out and moved away from the Dallas/Ft Worth "area" my property taxes were in the thousands. I intentionally moved to a very rural area and my property taxes are under $1,000.00 a year, and actually went down this last year.

I see the adds your talking about and don't know what to think about them. In my particular area the population of the entire county is under 15 thousand, and I  suspect such a scheme would appear highly unusual to a banker, or loan company.

[DDZ]

That has always been my complaint about property taxes. Work hard to improve your property and you get penalized with more taxes.  No matter what I do to my property. I get no more benefits. All I get is the road I live on gets plowed and taken care of.  Build something and you pay more. Guess its the same in life. Work hard to better yourself, by getting a better job, work two jobs, work overtime. and you get punished by the tax handlers.  There are many ways productive people get punished for their efforts.  On the other hand you can hop on the welfare system, and the tax handlers take care of you. 

[Dee]

Like I said.  My taxes went down. WAY DOWN. And after I bought this last place, you wouldn't believe the improvements I made on the place.
Its all in where you chose to live, but nuthin in life is free.

I didn't like the changes outsiders from California, and up north were making in the town, and area I grew up in, so I left, and never looked back.

[ironglow]

I ha e long wondered if there were some truth to the idea that somebody could rob someone of their home so easily.

  Surely, any such shennanigans as shown on the TV ads, would call attention to the county clerks office, and a simple phone call to the current owner, would settle the question..or at least put the county clerk on alert, to consider some kind of fraud.

   Perhaps much depends upon how ambitious and conscientious the folks i the county clerk's office happen to be.

[moamonkey]

“You will own nothing and you will be happy”.

That’s a real agenda.

[magooch]

“You will own nothing and you will be happy”.

That’s a real agenda.

Well maybe not.  I see a bunch of people who hang around some of the parks.  They obviously have nothing and they don't look too happy.  I wonder if it would cheer them up if I told them what it costs for taxes, insurance and upkeep on all the stuff they don't have.

[Ranger99]

When I got this last place
15-16 years ago, it was recommended
to me to buy insurance with the
purchase. It was a separate deal
from the purchase, and had to
be paid differently. It wasn't pushed
on me like a salesman would, it
was just recommend to protect me
from any debt the previous owners
had incurred, since the purchase
made me liable for any debt connected
with ownership.  I got it, and sure
enough some time later, some company
was trying to file a judgment against
the purchase since a previous owner
had defaulted on paying off a loan
on some old trailer. That would have been
strictly a big loss for me since I'd
have been responsible for a debt and
received absolutely nothing in return.
I was glad of it that time

[ironglow]

Wouldn't title clearance and search have brought that to light before purchase?

[JBinMN]

I am gonna come back & re-read this whole topic tomorrow.

As far as I am concerned, it is like another situation it seems we have to deal with & the answer should be the same...

MOLON LABE.

"Come & take them"... is the current interpretation.

Yep,, That is where it is gonna be.

YMMV, of course, depending on your situation.

Taxes suck & I think they are BS, but once I have a property, or a piece of equip. paid in full...
and taxes are paid.

just try to come take it.

Dunno about the rest of ya, but I call that, "Stealing/Theft", and in my world, you try to take something that doesn't belong to ya...

Well... you might pay more for it than if ya just went out and bought a New one for yourself, instead of trying to take mine without permission."

Once agin, YMMV.

P.S - I have a saying, for those who don't understand my way of thinking...
I hope you are able to understand it, as it might help ya understand how I was raised....

"If ya don't like my gate, ya don't have to swing on the hinges."


Heck, I oughta make that a signature file thing...

Hope ya "get it".
Don't figure I oughta have to explain it.. Pretty much one ya should be able to figure out on your own.

[wtxbadger]

When buying a new place a title search and policy are a good thing to have done. I tend to look at these third party title companies no different than the car warranty outfits you see advertised on TV. Odds are they won't pay for much of anything for a multitude of reasons hidden in the small print of the contract you sign.

[Bob Riebe]

All states do not handle property and transfer thereof the same; the add is working on making people afraid.

[magooch]

I think JB might have the right attitude, but in the world we live in, you are automatically "public enemy number one" if you execute your plan without sanction of a court.  The crooks will probably have the full support of the enforcers.

[Dee]

I'm 73, and I've had a good life for the most part. I've also worked hard to become debt free and accomplished that about 20 years ago.
Somebody rides up and says I'm being evicted from a house I paid cash for? They better check close before they trot that one out, cause if they try it, hell will be comin to breakfast.

[Ranger99]

Unfortunately, people have always
wanted something for nothing, and
there's a gazillion people that have
watched all these newer "reality " shows
where people buy houses and properties
and make a million working 2 days a
month sitting in front of the computer,
and attend these seminars telling them
that they can do just that.
Lots of other absentee owners of
places trying to wheel and deal that
don't have a clue.
I looked at one property some years ago
that the people had spent no telling how
many tens of thousands on and were
trying to sell it since they hadn't been
there in "several " years. I drove around
and finally found it from their map, and
it was an overgrown jungle. Their elaborate
decorative iron gate was so overgrown
I drove past it twice before I found it.
I tried to walk the fence line, but it was
too grown up. I did find a tiny shack made
from scrap plywood and lumber where
some dope heads had been staying
with a big trash pile of hypodermics
and beer cans and soup cans and such
were piled up. Lots of toilet paper and
such.  I left and called them and they
couldn't believe that I'd went to the
right place. I described the gate and
the layout and I thought they would
cry when I was telling them about the
drug shack. They wouldn't come off
the price any either. I bet it cost them
ten thousand dollars to have somebody
come in all haul off all the trash and
bulldoze all the briars and scrub brush
and clean everything up to make a
livable property out of it again.
Had a similar deal trying to buy a property
at one of those lakeside rural subdivisions.
The lady had died a few years before,
and her daughter several states away
was trying to sell it sight unseen.
It needed work to make it livable, and
the daughter was incredulous that
it needed anything at all. She only
remembered that decades ago mama
spent every weekend there in her
expensive motorhome and how
beautiful it was, blah blah. I offered
to take photos and send, but she
really got hot at me for suggesting
that I would be interested with a
discounted price to cover the
work needed to make it livable.

I'm sure there's similar stories
from coast to coast about buying
and owning property
I know I've personally seen some
doozies

[magooch]

I had to visit the county courthouse to pay my outrageous property taxes and while I was there, I did some enquiring about the constant warnings we are seeing in ads on TV and hearing on radio about how easy it is for crooks to steal our properties.  They assured me that at least in this state (Washington) that is just not possible and they doubted it was actually possible anywhere.

To start with, there is no "Title" for our properties--only a deed and that deed is in the property owner's possession.  It is not available on the internet, nor anywhere else.  When the property is sold, a new deed is issued to the new owner after a thorough search is made for any possible leans or other encumbrances on the property.  So the ads are absolutely a fraud and I am wondering why the insurance companies are getting away with this crap.  Some enterprising lawyer should sue the celebrities and whoever is paying to advertise this farse.

[Dee]

I don't see how they could either. I paid cash for this house, and I ain't moving out.