Shopping On-Line for Title Insurance
While you may want to use your local or referred title or closing company, it still may be worth your time to shop on-line to compare title insurance rates and fees. If nothing else, if you find a cheaper rate or fee, you can present this quote to your title company (or attorney) and ask them to match those discounted fees. Several on-line companies have cropped up, such as www.titleinsurance.com, www.EasyTitleQuote.com, and www.myclosingspace.com.
Each of these companies works a bit differently from the other, but basically they shop your specific transaction for competitively priced title insurance and closing costs among many title companies. One company, www.myclosingspace.com may actually handle the closing themselves. They currently have offices in Florida, New York, New Jersey and are licensed in Delaware, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. In addition, they will attend a closing at any location of your choosing.
As with any company, you would be wise to verify the service provider you choose to be sure that is an approved title insurer by checking with your state’s Department of Insurance or with the Department of Financial Services. In addition, checking with the Better Business Bureau may reveal complaints which may steer you away from using one company over the other. Although price is a major factor in choosing a title company, good service and the ability to pay claims should also be considered.
One forward thinking state, Colorado, publishes a listing of companies in their state offering title insurance and includes a list of the title insurance premium charged by each company, county by county. Colorado law requires title entities to make insurance premiums and fees available to the public upon request, and by visiting the Colorado Division of Insurance website, www.dora.state.co.us/insurance, you can view these fees for yourself. (“All such rates or fees shall be readily available to the public in each office of the title insurance company or title insurance agent in the county to which said rates or fees apply.” http://www.ltac.org/mainpages/regs-crs.htm).
With a little bit of work, you may save yourself several hundred, perhaps even thousands, of dollars from paying the full-priced title insurance premium. You may find savings on other closings costs as well, such as escrow fees, title and search fees, document preparation fees, courier and notary fees.
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