In the past, to “sell” a home in Massachusetts and nationwide, the Seller simply needed to deliver a newly constructed deed to the new home buyer.  New home owners would safeguard this treasured document until their eventual sale.  Through the years and with the complexity of zoning regulation, family dynamics and mortgages, this paper deed needed to be publically acknowledged to render its validity.  Hence the ‘recording’ of the deed at the municipality’s Registry of Deeds.  Here in Easton, MA, our Registry is located in Taunton, which is the registry for all of Bristol County. Just recently they have added a satellite location in Attleboro.

As our society became quick paced and sales of homes were more frequent—a bygone era of passing the farm along to the next generation—the need for a form of home protection for good title was instituted.  Title insurance as it is called, was created to give comfort that the new property was conveyed a good, clear title, i.e. free from claim, encumbrance and defect.  Not only was this insurance for the new home owner but also for the lending institutions that were rapidly turning over property after property in a faster moving market.  This insurance then became a lending requirement by the lending institutions as a way to protect their collateral against true or erroneous claim.  A split of the title insurance emerged.  One form is a mandatory title insurance policy for the lending institution, paid by the borrower/home buyer and accounted for on the HUD settlement sheet.  The second form of title insurance is a policy that covers the new owners whose interest is not only for the mortgaged amount (as required by the lending institution) but the entire purchase amount. 

Because humans are responsible for creating deeds, title searches, recording and plot surveys and are subject to error, it is highly advisable to purchase both the bank policy and the owner’s policy to protect your biggest investment against mistake. 




Visit our website for more information!