FAQ

Title Insurance protects the real estate owners and lenders against any property loss or damage they might experience due to liens, defects in the title to the property, or unforeseen legal issues such as, a Will or Trust to an unknown relative.

Title Insurance covers the buyer both legally and financially and insures you will not be liable for any title flaw that arose from the property’s history before you purchased it. The Owner’s Title Insurance Policy will stay in effect as long as you or your heirs own the property. 

• Mistakes that were made in the public records
• Tax liens, judgements, or outstanding payments on the mortgage
• Undisclosed heirs with claims against the property
• Identity fraud or signatures on the title of people who didn’t have the legal rights to sign

A title search is a diligent examination into the history of the property. It will reveal any problems or concerns that might arise with the property you are trying to purchase. A thorough search of all available public records of prior ownership will uncover that title has or has not passed legally to each new owner or their heirs. The search will also flag any outstanding liens, utility assessments, taxes, judgments, outstanding mortgages or anything else recorded about the property that may affect the new buyer’s exclusive ownership of the property. Our goal is to make sure the title is clean and cleared before you take ownership of the property.

Closing, also referred to as “settlement,” is when the ownership of the property is transferred to the buyer. This is the final step in your real estate transaction. At closing the buyers will sign an array documents relating to the transfer of ownership. Buyers will pay their remaining closings costs and all disbursements of funds will be made. Titlequest will record the new deed and mortgage, if applicable, with the appropriate Clerk of the Circuit Court.

For mortgage loans, the process of signing mortgage documents will also be included at closing. In some jurisdictions, closing is also referred to as “escrow.”

The upfront fees paid by a buyer (and/or seller) when purchasing a property or selling a property. Generally including, but not limited, to a loan origination fee, title examination, title insurance, land survey, settlement fee, any prepaid items, such as escrow deposits for taxes and insurance. Closing costs do affect any transfer of title with or without a mortgage loan.

This is a good question. At TitleQuest, we try to keep things moving as smooth and quick as possible. Once all the information for your closing is put together (approximately 30-45 days) we will schedule an appointment with you to “Close.” For a first-time home buyer or a new home purchase, this could take approximately an hour to learn about and sign all the documents. If you’re settling a refinance, this process could take approximately 30 minutes.

TitleQuest will have all of the information pertaining to the property. All you will be required to bring is:

• A valid and unexpired official current government issued photo-identification, such as a driver’s license or passport
• Any funds that are due by the closing date in the form of a cashier’s check or by wire
• TitleQuest will contact you well before your appointment date to provide you with the amount you will need and who to make the cashier’s check or certified check out to.

There are many options and your choice can have far-reaching consequences. It may even control where you want your property to go after you die.

• Sole Ownership: Title is held solely in one person’s name, thus no one else is shown as sharing an ownership interest except for the named titleholder.
• Tenants by the Entireties: For spouses who are currently married, the property can be titled in both of their names and held as a tenant by the entireties.This is one of Virginia’s best forms of asset protection from outside creditors because the property is not divisible by creditors to satisfy the obligation of only one debtor spouse.
• Joint Tenancy With Rights Of Survivorship (JTWROS): with someone else equally and when one of the co-owner dies, the entire interest passes to the remaining surviving joint tenant(s), rather than to the heirs of the one who died. However, if a co-owner conveys their interest to a 3rd party, the property loses its survivorship status as to that portion and defaults to being held as tenancy in common.
• Tenancy In Common: Several parties can own the property in whatever different percentages they would like.Any party can sell their interest to anyone without notice to the other.Upon the death of a co-owner on the title, their interest goes to their own estate to be distributed according to their will or to their heirs through probate.