Thursday, March 06, 2008

query: can the title insurance company foreclose on my house

Unless the title insurance company has a mortgage lien against your house - which is highly unlikely - they would not be the party to foreclose on your house.

It's the mortgage lender who would foreclose, whoever owns the note you signed promising to repay the money that was loaned to you.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is much ado out here where it's being erroneously stated that Financial Title Company is foreclosing on Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. In California, a real estate loan is secured by a Deed of Trust. In a Deed of Trust, the trustor (borrower) deeds the property to the Trustee (in this case Financial Title Company) to hold in trust as security for payment of the promissary note owed the beneficiary (lender). The beneficiary would direct the trustee to commence foreclosure. Certain notices are filed, recorded and posted according to State law. Upon foreclosure, the trustee deeds the property to either the successful bidder or if there is none, the lender. A title company can and often is the trustee on a deed of trust, but when they foreclose they are just following the lender's instructions.

Wow! That's pretty good for 5:08a.m. :)

D said...

Thanks for the clarification WD. So, in states that use the security instrument, deed of trust, rather than a mortgage, it is entirely normal for the title company to act as trustee and therefore be named as the party bringing the foreclosure suit.

Consumers with this question can look at the top of their mortgage document to see if it says MORTGAGE or DEED OF TRUST.