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What is a Title Search I will do my best to explain
what a title search entails and why it is so important to the issuance
of your Title Insurance Policy, and maintaining all the accuracy we can to
avoid any difficult issues for you or your client. It is called a “Title Search” because
that is exactly what we do, search the public records. There are
various records and areas we, as a title insurer, need to review and
determine what may effect the property we are considering for insurance.
Some people in the industry may use the term “Run” the names or “Run”
the property. In the business of titles, this is synonomys with
“Search.” If you are in a conversation with any title professional and
do not understand a term that is used, please feel free to ask to have that
term explained or defined. We love to talk about our business. The first place we search is the Recorder's
Office to determine who legally owns the “PIQ” (Property in Question).
In the process of determining the record owner, we also review all the
prior recorded documents related to the PIQ, as well as any that may have
been placed of record subsequent to the time the present owner took title to
the property. At this time we determine what, if any, of these
documents we need to have sent to our examining staff to review the potential
effect they may have on the ownership and insurability of the property.
I will explain the process and operation of the “Examining Staff” in a future
issue. We also search the records in
the County Treasurer's office to be certain that the real estate taxes
have been paid and that there are no past due taxes that may be subject to
late penalties or even worse, may have been sold for failure to pay in full
when due. The search staff also checks to see if there are any special
assessments that may be due. Our search staff also is responsible
for checking the County Clerk's records to determine whether, to name just a
few items, if there are any divorces of record involving the sellers, any
judgements against any of the parties, or any open cases pending.
In the State of Illinois all
County Recorder's offices are required to keep their records in the form of a
Grantor / Grantee index, which means that all of our searches are done using
the names of the parties in title. Sometimes that can get a bit
unwieldy for searches on persons with common names so you can surely see the
need to get accurate information from all the parties, such as middle names
and social security numbers. We also search the PIQ by the legal
description and the Parcel ID Number.
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lenders and home buyers now receive their title policies at the closing
table? Call Michelle
Null, VP Escrow Operations, to learn more about this exciting new
program. Ready to refi? Lenders and
homeowners will want to hear about our fantastically low new refinance rates.
Call today for a quote! Why wait? You can place your
next title order now by clicking here. Toni Casson has been
with Benchmark Title Company since the day we opened our doors on
February 15, 1998, and is excited about our upcoming 10 year anniversary in
business. Toni serves as Lead Title Searcher, searching titles on
residential and commercial properties in the counties of St. Clair, Madison,
Monroe, Clinton, Washington, Jersey, Perry, Randolph, Bond and wherever else
we can find to send her. With her nearly 14 years of title
searching experience Toni is a rare gem in terms of her knowledge, experience
and ability to find and resolve title problems. Toni lives in
Waterloo with her husband, Jim Casson, and their cat Harold.
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