FAQs
Who Chooses Which Attorney to Use at Closing?
What is an Abstract?
The basic information on a piece of property includes:
- Location and dimensions – address, lot, square and subdivision, acreage in section, township, and range
- Names of parties to the transaction including first, middle/maiden, and last name (also includes marital status)
- Consideration (price paid)
- Other terms of the transaction
- Mortgages, liens, or other encumbrances affecting the piece of property
- Status of property taxes
What is a Title Commitment?
Who is being insured: generally, the lender and any future investors are the insured, along with the purchasers of the property, assuming an Owner’s Policy is being issued.
The amount of the insurance: typically, this is the loan amount for the mortgagee, or in the case of a cash sale, it is the sales price for the owner.
What is Title Insurance?
The following are just a few examples:
- Clerical error
- Forgery, fraud, incompetency, and incapacity
- Lack of legal access to the property
- “Missing links” in the chain of title
- Unknown heirs to property due to successions, improper identification of owners, etc.
- Surveyor errors
Click here to see additional ways you could lose your property.
The two most common types of title insurance policies are:
- Mortgagee: Almost always required by the lender, this policy protects the lender’s interest in the property up to the amount of the loan. This policy must be purchased every time a borrower gets a new loan on a piece of property. It protects the lender and terminates when the loan is paid off.
- Owner: Owner’s title insurance protects the owner against title defects for as long as he owns the property. When purchased at the same time as the mortgagee’s policy, it is usually considerably less expensive than when purchased separately.
New homebuilders may also purchase lien coverage, which provides additional insurance to an owner or lender during the construction of a new home. This protects against the event of any liens being in place on the property for non-payment of labor or materials during construction.
Who Needs Title Insurance?
How Much Does Title Insurance Cost?
How Often Do I Make Payments on Title Insurance?
Can Title Insurance Be Purchased at a Later Date?
What is a Lien?
Lien coverage may be purchased during the construction of a new home to provide additional insurance to an owner or lender for protection if any liens are place on the property.
What is a Closing?
The process involves all applicable parties and usually takes place in the closing agent’s office. Once gathered together, all necessary documents, including the deed, are inspected, discussed, and finally signed before the funds for the sale are released to the closing agent. Copies are made of all paperwork, for the records of both the buyer and the seller, while the official documents are filed away with their appropriate government agencies. Congratulations on your real estate purchase!

Lake Charles Office
1490 Market Street Suite 2
Lake Charles, LA 70601
Phone: 337-990-4333
Fax: 337-513-4683