[RayB]

There is a dominate misconception that if one finances a house the title insurance they must purchase is insurance which will benefit the home owner. Actually, that title insurance is to protect the finance company/bank against a defective title or mechanics lean. The home owner must purchase a home owners title insurance package to protect the home owner whether they finance or not. If you finance then you can get a home owners title insurance policy for not much more than the cost you are paying for the lenders title insurance policy since the title search is already completed for the lenders policy. I for one would never purchase a home without purchasing a HOME OWNERS Title Insurance policy. The one time cost is well worth it. You could loose you house without it. I am not rich enough to financially survive the loss of my house. I once purchased some property in Ohio which during the title search by my lawyers for the title insurance was discovered to have a very substantial mechanics lean on the property. This lean was by a contractor who was not paid by the seller of the property. Without the search, and if I had purchased the property as is, I would have had to pay the contractor in order to get a clear title on the property. I would suspect title insurance for the home owner now is more important than ever. The number of houses on the market and the slower sales on new houses makes for a higher potential for mechanics leans. The more empty new houses on the market the better the chance contractors have not been paid.