From a reference article put out by the title insurance underwriter
First American Title:
Among the more than 70 hidden hazards that a title insurance policy provides protection against are:
- Forged deeds, mortgages, satisfactions, or releases
- Deed by person who is insane or mentally incompetent
- Deed by minor (may be disavowed)
- Deed from corporation, unauthorized under corporate by-laws or given under falsified corporate resolution
- Deed challenged as being given under fraud, undue influence, or duress
- Deed following nonjudicial foreclosure, where required procedure was not followed
- Deed affecting land in judicial proceedings (bankruptcy, receivership, probate, conservatorship, dissolution of marriage) unauthorized by court
- Deed following judicial proceedings subject to appeal or further court order
- Deed following judicial proceedings where all necessary parties were not joined
- Lack of jurisdiction over persons or property in judicial proceedings
- Deed signed by mistake (grantor did not know what was signed)
- Deed executed under falsified power of attorney
- Deed executed under expired power of attorney (death, disability, or insanity of principal)
- Deed apparently valid, but actually delivered after death of grantor or grantee, or without consent of grantor
- Deed affecting property purported to be separate property of grantor, which is in fact community or jointly owned property
- Undisclosed divorce of one who conveys as sole heir of a deceased former spouse
- Deed affecting property of deceased person, not joining all heirs
- Conveyance void as in violation of public policy (payment of gambling debt, payment for contract to commit crime, or conveyance made in restraint of trade)
- Deed to land including “wetlands” subject to public trust (vesting title in government to protect public interest in navigation, commerce, fishing, and recreation)
- Deed from government entity, vulnerable to challenge as unauthorized or unlawful
- Ineffective release of prior satisfied mortgage due to acquisition of note by bona-fide purchaser (without notice of satisfaction)
- Ineffective release of prior satisfied mortgage due to bankruptcy of creditor prior to recording of release (avoiding powers in bankruptcy)
- Ineffective release of prior mortgage or lien, as fraudulently obtained by predecessor in title
- Disputed release of prior mortgage or lien, as given under mistake or misunderstanding
- Ineffective subordination agreement causing junior interest to be reinstated to priority
- Deed recorded but not properly indexed so as to be locatable in the land records
- Defective acknowledgment due to lack of authority of notary (acknowledgment taken before commission or after expiration of commission)
- Forged notarization or witness acknowledgment
- Deed not properly recorded (wrong county, missing pages or other contents, or without required payment)
- Deed from grantor who is claimed to have acquired title through fraud upon creditors of a prior owner
And extended coverage may be requested to protect against such additional defects as:
.
- Deed to a purchaser from one who has previously sold or leased the same land to a third party under an unrecorded contract, where the third party is in possession of the premises
- Claimed prescriptive rights, not of record and not disclosed by survey
- Physical location of easement (underground pipe or sewer line) which does not conform with easement of record
- Deed to land with improvements encroaching upon land of another
- Incorrect survey (misstating location, dimensions, area easements, or improvements upon land)
- “Mechanics’ lien” claims (securing payment of contractors and material suppliers for improvements) which may attach without recorded notice
- Federal estate or state inheritance tax liens (may attach without recorded notice)
- Preexisting violation of subdivision mapping laws*
- Preexisting violation of zoning ordinances*
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