Page 9 - Whatcom Title & Escrow Guide
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TYPES OF

                COVERAGE                                           2. ALTA Standard Owners Policy:

                                                                   The Owner’s Standard Policy will cover the buyer
                Please visit our website at                        against issues that could be discovered by an
                www.ctthurston.com for a complete chart            examination of Public Record.
                showing a deeper comparison of the three
                forms of coverage below:                           Examples of these would be:
                                                                     A document upon which your title is based was
                                                                     not properly filed, recorded or indexed in the
                                                                     Public Records.
                1. Homeowner's Title Insurance Policy:               Someone else has a right to limit your use of
                The Homeowner’s Policy is only available on          the land.
                single family homes to fourplexs. It must be         Someone else claims to have rights affecting
                owned by a “natural person” and not an entity        your title arising out of forgery or
                such as a corporation or an LLC. In addition to      impersonation.
                the protections offered in the Standard Policy,      Someone else owns an interest in your title.
                the Homeowner’s Policy extends coverage
                beyond the issue date.                             3. ALTA Extended Owners Policy:
                                                                   The Extended Owner’s Policy offers the most
                Examples include:                                  extensive title insurance as it covers not only
                  You cannot use the land because use as a         matters of Public Record but also insures issues
                  single family residence violates an existing     that are revealed as a result of a physical inspection
                  zoning law or regulation.                        or survey of the property. This is commonly issued
                  You are forced to remove your existing           for high value residential properties, large parcels of
                  structures which encroach onto an                vacant land and commercial properties.
                  easement or over a building set-back line
                  even if the easement or building set-back        Policy coverage examples include:
                  line is excepted in your title policy.             You are forced to remove your existing structures
                  Your neighbor builds any structure after the       because they encroach onto our neighbor’s land.
                  policy date, other than boundary walls or          Someone else has a legal right to, and does,
                  fences, which encroach onto your land.             refuse to perform a contract to purchase the
                  You do not have both actual vehicular and          land, lease it or make a mortgage loan on it
                  pedestrian access to and from the land             because your neighbor’s existing structures
                  based upon a legal right.                          encroach onto the land.


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