According to mortgage and credit expert Carolyn Warren, owner’s title insurance protects the owner from adverse claims against the title for as long as one owns the property - even after paying off the mortgage.It only protects you and any heirs from claims that question valid ownership before the date the home was purchased and insures a title only for the life of the loan. This protects your title and the lender from false liens, judgments, errors, omissions, false heirs, or a criminal who tries to file a false quit claim deed on your property. Lender’s title insurance is required by mortgage lenders, but cash buyers typically purchase it as well.There are two types of title insurance: Lender’s and Owner’s. I will sort out the difference between a Title Lock and Title Insurance then give my advice.

This is a complicated but important question that impacts every homeowner.

We have title insurance, so do we really need a title lock? We are seeking further information to understand how many California homeowners may have been harmed by these misleading advertisements.My spouse believes we need to protect our home with a title lock. False identity theft scares, like those created by Home Title Lock, take attention away from important privacy and data security efforts. San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu called the company “a scam, plain and simple.”Ĭhiu said, “The company has manufactured a home title theft crisis to stir up fear amongst elderly homeowners and deceive them into buying a service that many local governments provide for free. The subpoena seeks information dating back to 2019 regarding the company’s services, advertising, and documentation supporting its claims. The joint statement does not indicate that Home Title Lock is being prosecuted or sued by the City Attorneys’ Offices, but rather notes that the subpoenas are being issued as part of an investigation into potential violations of state law. Representatives with Home Title Lock did not respond to requests for comment on the City Attorneys’ announcement. We'll send you the top local news stories every morning at 8 a.m. In a joint statement released Monday, the City Attorneys say fraudulently recorded titles are void in California and fraudulent title recording is “rare and likely to be quickly discovered.” The City Attorneys also say that Home Title Lock’s service merely notifies homeowners when fraudulent deeds are recorded, instead of the protecting the homeowners through preventative measures. The City Attorneys say the company targets elderly customers with deceptive advertising and makes “alarmist statements about the prevalence of fraudulently recorded deeds.” Home Title Lock claims to provide services that safeguard homeowners from home title theft, in which scammers purportedly can steal homeowners’ properties by recording fraudulent title documents. The City Attorneys’ offices of San Diego and San Francisco announced Monday that they have issued a subpoena for information from a company they allege makes false claims regarding the threat of home title theft, a concept the City Attorneys say is impossible in California.

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