USA National Title Company's Title services are second to none.

Click on the three choices below to see how USA National Title Company is the right choice for all your title service needs.

• Click here for Title Info

• Click here for Title Insurance

• Click here for Preliminary Reports

TITLE INFO:    Steps in the Title Process: What They Mean to You!

Initial Request for the Title Insurance

An order for the title insurance opened with a title officer who produces the initial response promptly within 24 to 48 hours. A Preliminary report can be issued with the minimum of information; without even identifying the buyer or the terms of the sale. It shows the record title as it presently exists and is only an identifying the buyer or the terms of the sale. It shows the record as it presently exists and is only an offer to provide insurance. 

On-Site Searching and Examining

Your title officer performs three searches: Property, Name & Tax searches. From that information, a Preliminary report is created. Our on-site customer service center expedites the process of obtaining hard copies of recorded matters prevent the buyer from using the property for its intended purpose? Can antiquated leases be eliminated from the policy per a review of the current leases? 

Inspection Analysis

In anticipation of ALTA coverage, a site inspection is ordered. From the inspection report, the initial title product is supplemented to show any encroachments or other off-record matters, which would ultimately impact the title.

Co-Insurance or Re-Insurance, Other Details

If co-insurance or re-insurance is needed for a transaction, we expedite the confirmation of approval. You, the customer, are never bogged down or delayed by the action on the part of our title unit. To the contrary, as a resource and as a facilitator of the transaction, we assume the responsibility for as many details as possible and are able to direct you to other resources where necessary (such as for a lost instrument bond).

We Earn Your respect with our Skills, Service and Solutions

We try not to point out impediments to the close of a transaction without also offering assistance and solutions. By understanding the sometimes delicate balance of the interests of the parties to a transaction, and by professionally and courteously handling issues as they arise, we can capably guide a transaction to a successful conclusion. 

Documents in the Title Process

• Preliminary Report
• Commitment – Shows the condition of title in the way we are willing to issue it.
• Pro Forma – Specimen of what the requested policy, as requested, will look like. Underwriting issues not completed. Not binding upon the company.
• Policy – Final product. Contract of indemnity between named insured and the company.

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TITLE INSURANCE: Understanding Title Insurance

What is title insurance? Newspapers refer to it in the weekly real estate sections and you hear about it in conversations with real estate brokers. If you've purchased a home you may be familiar with the benefits of title insurance. However, if this your first home, you may wonder, “Why do I need yet another insurance policy?” While a number of issues can be raised by that question, we will start with general answer.

The purchase of a home is one of the most expensive and important purchases you will ever make. You and your mortgage lender will want to make sure the property is indeed yours and that no one else has any lien, claim or encumbrance on your property.

The California I and Title Association, in the following pages, answers some questions frequently asked an often misunderstood line of insurance-title insurance. 

Q. What is the difference between the insurance and casualty insurance?

A. Title insurers work to identify and eliminate risk before issuing a title insurance policy. Casualty insurers assume risks. 

Casualty insurance companies realize that a certain number of losses will occur each year in a given category (auto, fire etc.). The insurers collect premiums monthly or annually from the policy holders to establish reserve funds in order to pay for expected losses.

Title companies work in a very different manner. Title insurance will indemnify you against loss under the terms of your policy, but title companies work in advance of issuing your policy to identify and eliminate potential risks and therefore prevent losses caused by the title defects that may have been created in the past.

Title insurance also differs from casualty insurance in that the greatest part of the title insurance premium dollar goes towards risk elimination. Title companies maintain “title plants” which contain information regarding property transfers and liens reaching back many years. Maintaining these title plants, along with the searching and examining of title, is where most of your premium dollar goes.

Q. Who needs title insurance? 

A. Buyers and lenders in real estate transactions need title insurance. Both want to know that the property they are involved with is insured against certain defects. Title companies provide this needed insurance coverage subject to the terms of the policy. The insurance is provided by the title companies.

Q. What does title insurance do?

A. Title insurance protection against claims resulting from various defects (as set out in the policy) which may exist in the title to a specific parcel of real property, effective on the issue date of the policy. For example, a person might claim to have a deed or lease giving them ownership or the right to possess your property. Another person could claim to hold easement giving them a right of access across your land. Yet another person may claim that they have a lien on your property securing the repayment of a debt. That property may be an empty lot or it may hold a 500-story office tower. Title companies work with all types of real property.

Q. What types of policies are available?

A. Title companies routinely issue two types of policies: An “owners" policy which insures you, the home buyer for as long as you and your heirs own the home; and a “lenders” policy which insures the priority of the lender's security interest over the claims that others may have in the property.

Q. What protection am I obtaining with my title policy?

A. A title insurance policy contains provisions for the payment of the legal fees in defense of a claim against your property, which is covered under your policy. It also contains provisions for indemnification against losses, which result from a covered claim. A premium is paid at the close of a transaction. There are no continuing premiums due, as there are with other types of insurance.

Q. What are my chances of ever using my title policy?

A. In essence, by acquiring your policy, you derive the important knowledge that recorded matters have been searched and examined so that title insurance covering your property can be issued. Because we are risk eliminators, the probability of exercising your right to make a claim is very low. However, claims against your property may not be valid, making the continuous protection of the policy all the more important. When a title company provides a legal defense against claims covered by your title insurance policy, the savings to you for that legal defense alone will greatly exceed the one time premium.

Q. What if I am buying property from someone I know?

A. You may not know the owner as well as you think you do. People undergo changes in their personal lives that may affect title to their property. People get divorced, change their wills, engage in transactions that may limit the use of the property and have liens and judgments placed against them personally for various reasons.

There may also be matters affecting the property that are not obvious or known, even by the existing owner, which a little search and examination seeks to uncover as part of the process leading up to the issuance of the title insurance policy.

Just as you wouldn't make an investment based on a phone call, you shouldn't buy real property without assurances as to your title. Title insurance provides these assurances.

The process of risk identification and elimination performed by the title companies, prior to the issuance of a title policy, benefits all parties in the property transaction. It minimizes the chances that adverse claims might be raised, and by doing so reduces the number of claims that need to be defended or satisfied. This process keeps costs and expenses down for the company and maintains the traditional low cost of title insurance.

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PRELIMINARY REPORTS: Understanding Preliminary Reports

After months of searching, you've finally found it-your perfect dream home...

But is it perfect? Will you be purchasing more than just a beautiful home? Will you also be acquiring liens placed on the property by prior owners?

Have documents been recorded that will restrict your use of the property?

The Preliminary report will provide you with the opportunity, prior to purchase, to review matters affecting your property, which will be excluded from coverage under your title insurance policy unless removed or eliminated before purchase. To help you better understand this often bewildering subject, the California Land Title Association has answered some of the questions most commonly asked about Preliminary reports.

A Preliminary report is a report prepared prior to issuing a policy of title insurance that shows the ownership of a specific parcel of land, together with the liens & encumbrances thereon which will not be covered under a subsequent title insurance policy.

What role does a Preliminary report play in the real estate process?

A Preliminary report contains the conditions under which the title company will issue a particular type of title insurance policy. The Preliminary report lists, in advance of purchase, title defects liens and encumbrances which would be excluded from coverage if the requested title insurances policy were to be issued as of the date of the Preliminary report. The report may then be reviewed and discussed by the parties to a real estate transaction and their agents. Thus, a Preliminary report provides the opportunity to seek the removal of items referenced in the report, which are objectionable to the buyer prior to purchase.

Shortly after escrow is opened, an order will be placed and the title company will begin the process involved in producing the report. This process calls for the assembly and review of certain recorded matters relative to both the property and the parties to the transaction. Examples of recorded matters include a deed of trust recorded against property or a lien recorded against the buyer or seller for an unpaid court award or unpaid taxes. These recorded matters are listed numerically as “exceptions” in the Preliminary report. They will remain exceptions from the title insurance coverage unless eliminated or released prior to the transfer of title.

What should I look for when reading my Preliminary report?

You will be interested, primarily, in the extent of your ownership rights. This means you will want to review the ownership interest in the property you will be buying as well as any claims, restrictions or interests of other people involving the property. The report will note in a statement of vesting the degree, quantity, nature and extent the owner's interest in the real property. The most common form of interests is “fee simple” or “fee” which is the highest type of interest an owner can have in land. Liens, restrictions and interests of others, which are being excluded from coverage, will be listed numerically as “exceptions” in the Preliminary report. This maybe claims by creditors who have liens or liens for payment of taxes or assessments. There may also be recorded restrictions, which have been placed in a prior deed or contained in what are termed CC&R's – covenants, conditions and restrictions. Finally, interests of third parties are not uncommon and may include easements given by a prior owner, which limit your use of the property. When you buy property you may not wish to have these claims or restrictions on your property. Instead, you may want to clear the unwanted items prior to purchase. In addition to the limitations noted above, a printed list of standard exceptions and exclusions listing items not covered by your title insurance policy may be attached as an exhibit item to your report. Unlike the numbered exclusions, which are specific to the property you are buying, these are standard exceptions and exclusions appearing in title insurance policies. The review of this section is important, as it sets forth matters which will not be covered under your title insurance policy, but which you may wish to investigate, such as government laws or regulations governing building and zoning.

Can I be protected against title risks prior to the close of real estate transaction?

You will wish to carefully review the Preliminary report. Should the title to the property be clouded, you and your agents will work with the seller and the seller's agents to clear the unwanted liens and encumbrances prior to taking title.


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