Real Estate Title Insurance and Closings For Northwest Alabama

E&O Insurance Backed, Licensed Title Insurer, Father & Son Business with 45 years of experience.

Covering Franklin, Lauderdale, Colbert, Marion, Lawerence, Morgan, and Winston Counties

Title Search Fee- $225

Title Searches take 1-5 business days to complete. Contact us if you have any questions.


WHAT IS TITLE INSURANCE? Title insurance is a non-casualty product. Rather than indemnify and insure against future loss based on future risk, title insurance indemnifies and insures against future loss based on prior risk (risks that before the date of policy are inherent to the title). Before issuing the final policy a title search must be done to help eliminate encumbrances to the title before closing to the benefit of the consumer. Title insurance is a one-time premium fee that covers you beyond the grave. This means, that as long as you keep an estate or interest in the property, you and your heirs, next of kin, and personal representatives are covered.


WHY YOU NEED TITLE INSURANCE: Title insurance is protection against a list of risks. For example, if you decide to purchase a piece of property with liens or encumbrances to the title, that was not made aware to you by title search. You can lose the property entirely and/or be subjected to having to pay legal fees. Therefore, a lien should have been discovered, reported, and cleared before the issuance of the final policy. Should the judgment lien creditor later claim payment the title insurer would be contractually obligated to protect the insured against loss or damage, by paying off the lien and obtaining the release of same. Please check the full list of the risks covered by title insurance below.




Covered Risks:


  1. Forged deeds, mortgages, satisfactions or releases

  2. Deed from:
    • Person who is insane or mentally incompetent
    • Minor
    • Corporation, unauthorized under corporate bylaws
    • Corporation, given under falsified corporate resolution
    • Partnership, unauthorized under partnership agreement
    • Purported trustee, unauthorized under trust agreement.
    • "Corporation" before formation or after loss of corporate charter
    • Legal non-entity [i.e., styled as a church, charity or club]
    • Person in a foreign country, vulnerable to challenge as incompetent, unauthorized, or defective under foreign laws
    • Predecessor in title using an alias or fictitious name

  3. Deed challenged due to:
    • Execution under fraud, undue influence or duress
    • Procedures not followed in a non-judicial foreclosure
    • Judicial proceedings [bankruptcy, receivership, probate, conservatorship, divorce], unauthorized by court
    • Judicial proceedings, subject to appeal or further court order
    • Judicial proceedings, where all necessary parties were not joined
    • Lack of jurisdiction over persons or property in judicial proceedings
    • Execution by mistake [grantor did not know what was signed]
    • Execution under falsified power of attorney
    • Execution under expired power of attorney [death, disability or insanity of principal]
    • Delivery of deed after death of grantor or grantee, or without consent of grantor
    • Execution by one, but not all grantors of community or jointly-owned property
    • Undisclosed divorce of one who conveys as sole heir of a deceased former spouse
    • All heirs not joined in deed affecting property of deceased person
    • Missing person who later appears after administration of estate
    • Conveyance by heir or survivor of a joint estate, who murdered the decedent

  4. Ineffective release of:
    • Prior satisfied mortgage due to acquisition of note by bona fide purchaser without notice of satisfaction]
    • Prior satisfied mortgage due to bankruptcy of creditor prior to recording of release avoiding powers in bankruptcy]
    • Prior mortgage of lien, fraudulently obtained by predecessor in title

  5. Disputed release or prior mortgage or lien, as given under mistake or misunderstanding

  6. Ineffective subordination agreement, causing junior lien interest to be reinstated to priority

  7. Deed recorded, but not properly indexed so as to be locatable in land records

  8. Undisclosed but recorded:
    • Federal or state tax lien
    • Judgment or spousal/child support lien
    • Prior mortgage
    • Notice of pending lawsuit affecting land
    • Environmental lien
    • Option, or right of first refusal, to purchase property
    • Covenants or restrictions [with or without right of reverterl
    • Easements [access, utility, drainage, airspace, view] of benefit to neighboring land
    • Boundary, party wall, or setback agreements

  9. Errors regarding taxes and assessments:
    • Error in tax records [mailing tax bill to wrong party resulting in tax sale or crediting payment to wrong party]
    • Erroneous release of tax or assessment liens, reinstated later to the tax rolls
    • Erroneous reports furnished by tax officials
    • Special assessments, which become liens upon passage of law or ordinance, but before recorded notice or commencement of improvements for which assessment is made

  10. Adverse claim of vendor's lien or equitable lien

  11. Ambiquous covenants or restrictions in ancient documents

  12. Misinterpretation of wills, deeds, and other instruments

  13. Discovery of will of supposed intestate individual, after probate

  14. Discovery of later will after probate of first will

  15. Claims relating to access or boundaries:Claims relating to access or boundaries:
    • Erroneous or inadequate legal descriptions
    • Land without right of access to a public street or road
    • Land with legal access subject to undisclosed but recorded conditions or restrictions
    • Right of access wiped out by foreclosure on neighboring land

  16. Readily apparent defects in recorded instruments
    • Improper execution
    • Lack of witnesses
    • Incomplete or missing notarial acknowledgment
    • Defective acknowledgment due to lack of authority of notary
    • Forged notarization or witness acknowledgment
    • Deed not properly recorded

  17. Deed from grantor who is claimed to have acquired title through fraud upon creditors of a prior owner