“You have been served,” said the man at the door as he gave the homeowners a legal notice that they were being sued by relatives of a past owner of their home.

The owners bought the home from an investor who bought it a couple of months earlier from a young man who claimed to be the sole owner of the home. It turns out the young man’s grandmother actually owned the home, and he had stayed in the home alone after Grandma moved to a nursing facility. He forged her signature and sold the home to the investor. The fraud came to light a few months later when Grandma died and her children began to deal with what they thought were Grandma’s assets.

The good news is that the homeowners purchased title insurance when they bought their home. Unfortunately, the investor did not think that was necessary and had no insurance. So the title company paid off the estate and sued the investor to recover its losses. The investor filed for bankruptcy, and the grandson went to jail for fraud.

The bottom line to this true story is that because the homeowners had title insurance, they kept their home.

Title insurance probably is one of the least understood parts of the real estate purchase process. We buy most insurance to safeguard us against future problems. Car or home insurance safeguards us against future losses. Health insurance safeguards us against the cost of future medical needs. Title insurance, on the other hand, safeguards the ownership of your home or other real estate against past mistakes or fraud. You are insured against things that may have occurred before you bought the property.

What if the person who claims to own the home you are buying doesn’t really own it, or maybe someone else also has ownership in the property? Or maybe there is an outstanding lien against the property or a previous owner committed an act of fraud. These are the types of potential problems that could exist with the home you are buying. While these examples may seem far-fetched, the reason you buy title insurance is to protect yourself from the unexpected, just like home or car insurance.

Similar to other insurance companies, title insurance companies will do some research and investigation before they agree to insure your new home. They will research public records about the property as far back as they exist, sometimes all the way to the Louisiana Purchase. They will review the ownership records to make sure the interests of previous owners were properly transferred to the next owner all the way down the line to the present day. They also will check to see if all previous mortgages, deeds of trust or liens against the property have been properly released. In addition, they will check the public records for owners of the property to see if there are any outstanding judgments against them that could impact their ability to sell their home.

If you are obtaining a mortgage to purchase your new home, your lender will require that the title insurance you purchase also insures its interest in your home. Before the title company agrees to cover the lender, they will check public records for information regarding you. They will check to make sure there are no outstanding judgments against you for taxes or other items that could take precedence over the lender’s interest in your new home.

Once the title company has reviewed all the information, they will issue a title commitment. This document states they will provide title insurance for the property subject to a set of conditions. Those conditions may include normal things such as paying off the existing loan or the seller signing a warranty deed to the purchaser. Or it could include out-of-the-ordinary items such as satisfying existing judgments or getting other documents signed to correct problems found in the public records.

It is very important that you review this document with your Realtor. Under the terms of the contract used by Realtors in this area, you have 25 days to have a title search done on the property and to ask the seller to correct any defects that exist on the property that will prevent you from obtaining clear ownership of your new home. If these types of defects cannot be corrected, you have the right to cancel the contract.

While the choice of which title company to work with is yours, your Realtor can help you locate a title company that provided professional, timely service to clients. Be sure to ask some questions about the title company your Realtor recommends or you find for yourself. Like your automobile or home insurance agent, some title companies serve as agents for national insurance firms. If you have a claim, you will be dealing with the national firm or underwriter instead of your local agent. Be sure to ask your title company who will be issuing your insurance policy, and if they have a track record of stability. Also, title insurance companies have to provide you with a complete breakdown of their charges. While you can shop around for the best price, remember that timely and professional service often is equally as important.

Your title company usually is the last stop on your journey to your new home during the closing process. Call your St. Charles County Realtor today.

What an awesome feeling it was to look out from the podium at the hundreds of people gathered for the Diverse Housing Summit a couple of weeks ago.

While I know that everyone did not come to hear my welcoming remarks, it was inspiring to see so many of my fellow citizens gathered because they still believe in the American Dream of Homeownership.

Some so-called experts in Washington, D.C., and the media would have you believe that dream is dead. They say our recent economic difficulties have snuffed out the dream of a place to call home for most Americans. They say home ownership is no longer a good investment. They suggest our country would be better off if we all lived in rental housing.

I wish some of those so-called experts could have joined me on the stage at the Columns Banquet Center that morning. The crowd wasn’t there to hear what others thought was best” for them. They were there because they wanted to hear how they could become homeowners from real experts. They were there to turn their dreams into reality.

As I sat there listening to the assembled experts, I thought about my own experiences. I grew up in the real estate business. As long as I can remember, my father talked about how important home ownership is and how he is honored to be a Realtor and help make that dream a reality for the families he works with. I purchased my first home at age 19 because I was raised with the ideal that as soon as possible, Americans become homeowners. Today, my wife Brenda and I are proud to be St. Charles County homeowners.

Those that say home ownership should be a thing of the past only have dollar signs in their eyes. They make the mistake of thinking the only reason people aspire to be homeowners is the dream of making a killing when they sell their home someday. Or, they want to be able to utilize the equity they build in their homes to finance the luxuries of life. While this attitude by some contributed to our economic challenges, the truth is home ownership was never meant to be a get-rich-quick scheme.

Home ownership is about building long-term financial security for our families. Even today, nothing offered by Wall Street to the average American can come close to matching the return on investment that the average American homeowner enjoys.

The experts forget that for most Americans, the dream of home ownership is not about the money. When my brother Aaron and I get together we don’t reminisce about how much money was made when the house we grew up in was sold. We talk about Christmas mornings, barbecues in the back yard and learning responsibility by helping out around the house. Of course, we also share memories of trying to sneak in after curfew without waking Mom and the great parties we threw when we were home alone. Maybe I should have left the last sentence out, but Mom probably already knew.

Homeowners built this nation and the great communities across our nation. Homeowners have made St. Charles County the great place it is to live, work and raise our families. Homeowners have a stake in their future and the future of their communities.

Everywhere you look, it is homeowners who are involved in their communities. You will find homeowners volunteering their time at our schools and for charities and civic organizations. Homeowners keep watch on each other and help to keep us safe. Countless studies have showed communities with high levels of home ownership have more involved citizens, better schools, higher student test scores and safer streets.

Today, we are fortunate that the dream of home ownership is more affordable than it has been in more than 50 years. Stable home prices and record-low interest rates have combined to give you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make your dream of home ownership a reality. I am pleased to report that buyers throughout St. Charles County are pursuing their dream of home ownership in record numbers. March was the sixth month in a row that home sales exceeded those of one year ago.

If you are considering pursuing your dream of a new home, the time to act is now. If you are not sure you can afford it, don’t abandon your dream. Call your Realtor to find out what programs might be available for you. You can also learn more if you go to www.StCharlesRealtors.com to access links to the presentations offered by experts at the housing summit.

The summit reinforced what I already knew: the American Dream is alive and well. Americans lived through times of war, depression, economic downturn and social unrest, always emerging stronger with our ideals and dreams intact. We are no different today than our parents and grandparents. Simply put, no matter what the so-called experts may tell us, an American dream of living in rental housing is just plain wrong. It is not the America that I was taught to know and love.

Like those who attended the summit, Americans in St. Charles County and across our nation will continue to work and fight for their dreams. I dream of an America where someday my children and grandchildren will build memories for their family, not in a rental home owned by somebody else, but in their own corner of the American Dream.

Call your St. Charles County Realtor today.