§14.7 - The Insuring Process

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§14.7 THE INSURING PROCESS

A title insurance company, before issuing its policy, will make an extensive search of relevant records to determine the existence of ownership rights, claims, or liens that may affect title to the property. Additional investigation of the property itself by inspection, survey, and other inquiries (such as an affidavit by the seller or borrower) as to possessory rights may be used to determine possible rights or claims not disclosed by the public records in connection with extended forms of coverage, which include off-record matters.

The title insurer's willingness to insure is expressed in a commitment. The commitment is not an abstract, and does not show the "status" of the title, but rather the condition of the title as the insurer is willing to insure it.

The commitment is a commitment to insure title of either the vestee, the purchaser from that vestee, and/or the lender to the vestee or purchaser, all as set forth in the commitment as of the date thereof. It is neither an abstract nor a report on the status of title, nor are the matters shown as exceptions represented in the commitment as being encumbrances on the title to the land. It lists the encumbrances and other defects against which the company will not insure unless cleared prior to the issuance of the policy.

RCW 48.29.010(3)(c) defines a commitment as follows:

(c)...