When title insurance was first introduced into Canadian residential conveyancing in the mid-1990’s it was considered prohibitively expensive. Purchasers were funding legal fees and disbursements; inspection fees; transfer taxes; mortgage default insurance; and various other “Closing Costs”. Adding title insurance premium seemed unnecessary. The title insurers worked on this problem. The first thing they did was to add “Survey Coverage” alleviating the need to obtain a Land Survey which then cost roughly $1,000. I’ll have more to say on Survey Coverage in another Commentary. Succinctly – great coverage for Lenders, but whether right for Owners depends on many circumstances.

You’ve worked hard. You and your family have saved diligently for years. Congratulations you’ve bought a house. Unfortunately, it wasn’t built properly and might even be too dangerous for you to live in. What do you do now?

Our Insurance Law group at Davidson Cahill Morrison LLP has been seeing a steady increase in title insurance claims. Typically, these claims are made by

Title insurance is commonly used in Ontario real estate transactions as a means of protecting property owners and mortgage lenders against certain risks associated with