What is Title Insurance?

Title insurance is an insurance policy that provides lawyers, residential or commercial property buyers, and lenders with protection against losses related to the property's title or ownership.

Do I Need Title Insurance?

Although title insurance is NOT a mandatory requirement for the purchase of a property in Ontario, it is highly recommended, to ensure an extra safeguard, especially when a survey of the property has not been completed.

What Does Title Insurance Cover?

  • Unknown title defects that impact your ownership of the property, it may not cover known title defects
  • Existing liens against the property's title, such as unpaid debts secured against the property by a previous owner, including:
    • Utility bills
    • Mortgages
    • Property taxes
    • Condominium charges
  • Encroachment issues (e.g. a structure on your property that encroaches on your neighbour's property)
  • Indigenous land claims may not be covered
  • Errors in surveys and public records, it may not cover issues that were not listed in public records, such as unrecorded liens and encroachments
  • Environmental hazards may not be covered (e.g. soil contamination)
  • Other title-related issues that may affect your ability to sell, mortgage, or lease your property in the future
  • Title fraud
  • Problems only discovered by a new survey or inspection of your property may not be covered (e.g. the property is smaller than originally thought)
  • Zoning bylaw violations from changes, renovations or additions to your property or land may not be covered
  • A Lawyers negligence or error may be covered, depending on your insurance policy
  • Title insurance does not provide compensation for nontitle-related issues

Things to Know About Title Insurance

It is important that you understand that title insurance does NOT solve any problems relating to title or the property, it only provides coverage against financial losses due to those problems.

Make sure you understand what exactly is covered under the title insurance policy you selected, as there are some that only cover certain losses.

Connect With Suzanne Desrosiers Professional Corporation

If you are looking for guidance or have any questions about title insurance, or other real estate transactions, please feel free to reach out to Suzanne Desrosiers Professional Corporation by calling us at (705) 268-6492 or emailing us at info@sdlawtimmins.com and we would be more than happy to help!