What is the general consensus on TUG for a closing company who offers title insurance?

[SunsetMaven]

I know LT Transfers is the overall pick for many TUGgers but since they don't offer title insurance, which closing company do you all like if you wanted title insurance? And how much are total closing costs? (Not including resort-specific fees).

Thanks!

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Why would you need title insurance? Are you planning on buying something super expensive or are you buying in a non-US location (e.g., Mexico) ? Most TS owners don't bother to get title insurance.

AFAIK, title insurance is typically only responsible financially up to the sales price of the TS (not including closing costs). In one case I paid $300 for a Marriott timeshare. It wouldn't make sense to have shelled out several hundred bucks for title insurance. But I did my own due diligence and got an estoppel and called the TS to confirm the details of ownership, whether the MF was up to date, the season and unit size, etc., including who was on the title. I suspect that the title insurance company would NOT have done much more. Also, hidden title issues such as the property being on Indian land, built without permits, sitting on a radioactive site, etc. are very unlikely to have been investigated by a title insurance company. Just my own opinion....

 

[tschwa2]

I agree. There will only be a very small subset of TUG members with any experience needing title insurance for the reasons above.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Cost is not the issue. You are paying for title search and insurance for clean title so you can deedback, give away or sell someday. Transfer companies can make errors. Title insurance protects you so you are not stuck with an albatross you cannot get rid of 15 years down the line when your seller is long gone. It could also contain a bad error from a prior sale.

IMO...The only times I would not get title insurance are as follows:

1) the deed is in a non-defiency state such as Florida, Calif, or S Carolina and has little value. In this case you could simply walk if the deed is clouded and let the resort foreclose.

2) the owner is elderly and has only a short life remaining. Walk at death do not leave to heirs.

3) If the value is low and the only prior sale was developer. The odds of clean title are high. I would scour the closing company paperwork and compare to the prior sale from the developer. Pay particularly close attention to major errors such as property location.

Everyone has different risk profile. For me spending $300 so I can sleep at night is money well spent.

 

[tschwa2]

You need to see how much the insurance will cover as well. Because if it only covers up to the purchase price and there ends up being an expensive problem they may only have to refund the purchase price which wouldn't really help much for timeshares worth under $1000.