Title Insurance is sort of like homeowners insurance right?

Wrong.

Most people are familiar with one kind of insurance - casualty insurance - and assume that all insurance works the same way. It doesn't, and this misunderstanding causes confusion.

To the extent that buying insurance protects you from the costs of unforeseen events and losses, yes, insurance is insurance. You buy homeowner's insurance in case a burglar breaks into your house, auto insurance to cover repairs after an accident, and life insurance to pay for your child's education if you are not there. These are all varieties of casualty insurance.

Land title insurance protects you, too, but it covers a different kind of loss, and its one- time premium pays for much more than simple risk protection. In short, not all insurance is the same.

Land title insurance protects you from events which may have happened in the past, not events that are likely to occur in the future, as does casualty coverage like automobile, fire, and flood insurance. Title insurance charges are based on a cost - per - $1000 of the property to protect the homeowner from claims which could jeopardize all or part of his property.

Some common losses? Records misplaced in courthouses, boundary disputes, unpaid taxes, and hidden defects in the title like missing heirs, forgery, fraud and other items which do not show up in the most exhaustive title search.