I'm reading some ads on Craigslist and an ad for land from an out of state owner mentions property that "needs to be surveyed" and further down the ad it mentions the title company won't issue a policy until after the sale.
I don't know much about basic land speculation/sale or marginally related nefariousness.
On it's face wouldn't this essentially be a "pig in a poke" ordeal?
Is it standard practice to withhold details of a policy until such time as a sale is finalized ? Given the possible exceptions from coverage ?
A Title Company will issue a Title Commitment prior to the survey.
That doesn't make a lot of sense. It would be like waiting to buy car insurance after and accident, its too late it won't do any good. Title companies will give a title policy without or with a survey, there is just an exclusion if a survey hasn't been done.
And prior to a sale...
I had a walk-in looking for a price to survey a dozen or so 'parcels' that the Title Company wouldn't touch. They turned out to be fictitious parcels created by the County Assessor (GIS) and sold at auction. It seems someone could not deal with the fact that Plats and surveys covering over a dozen Townships didn't fit together to the hundredth...
> I'm reading some ads on Craigslist and an ad for land from an out of state owner mentions property that "needs to be surveyed" and further down the ad it mentions the title company won't issue a policy until after the sale.
>
> I don't know much about basic land speculation/sale or marginally related nefariousness.
> On it's face wouldn't this essentially be a "pig in a poke" ordeal?
> Is it standard practice to withhold details of a policy until such time as a sale is finalized ? Given the possible exceptions from coverage ?
The title commitment will give those details. They are essentially showing you the details of the policy that will be in place when the sale goes through. The grantee doesn't have to purchase a policy if the closing falls through.
> I had a walk-in looking for a price to survey a dozen or so 'parcels' that the Title Company wouldn't touch. They turned out to be fictitious parcels created by the County Assessor (GIS) and sold at auction. It seems someone could not deal with the fact that Plats and surveys covering over a dozen Townships didn't fit together to the hundredth...
Sharp attorney may find a way to get some money back from county. That could be proven to be a fraudulent sale.
"A Title Company will issue a Title Commitment prior to the survey."
(forehead slap) Thanks A.Harris. I don't know where my head went to, i've seen plenty of policies sent to registered before the survey.