What Is A Title Contingency?

If you've been thinking about buying a house, it's time to educate yourself on the process. Buying a home is a ton of fun, but it is also a complicated process with a lot of details that must be met. Your real estate agent will be able to guide you through the process, and our title experts at the Lake of the Ozarks will be here to fill in the gaps wherever we can. This week, we want to look at one particular aspect of the home purchase agreement: the title contingency.

What Is A Contingency?

 Before we look specifically at title contingencies, let's back up and look at contingencies in general. When you submit an offer on the house, you do so through a proposed home purchase agreement. This agreement outlines several details of your proposed sale, including the purchase price, closing date, any specific items that should be included in the sale, and your desired contingencies.

 Contingencies are conditions that must be met in order for the contract to be considered valid. Here are a few contingencies that are commonly used:
  • Financing Contingency - The buyers' financing must be approved in order for the sale to go through.
  • Inspection Contingency - The buyers reserve the right to back out of the sale if the inspection reveals the need for serious and/or costly repairs.
  • House Sale Contingency - The buyers' current home must sell within a specified date in order for the sale to go through.
  • Title Contingency - See below.

Title Contingency

There are several steps that must be taken before the closing date. One of these is for the title company to conduct a thorough title search to reveal any issues that may pose problems with the sale or for the new owners down the road. The title contingency allows the buyers to back out of the sale if the title search reveals serious issues with the title. For example...
  • The seller is divorced but his ex's name is still on the title, and she does not want to sell.
  • There is an easement on the property that allows the neighbors to use the driveway whenever they wish.
  • The sellers cannot prove that they have valid legal ownership over the title.
  • There is a lien on the property that must be satisfied before the home can be sold.

There are countless other examples of issues the title search may reveal, but these should give you a general idea. Hopefully the title search will come back clean, but including the title contingency will allow you to back out the sale if the title report reveals issues that you would rather not deal with. 

Looking For A Title Company? Check Out Arrowhead Title, Inc!
If you are in need of a title company at Lake Ozark MO, we hope you'll keep Arrowhead Title in mind! We have over twenty years of experience in title insurance at the Lake of the Ozarks and would be honored to help facilitate your closing. We look forward to working with you!

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750 Bagnell Dam Blvd Suite B
Lake Ozark, MO 65049
Location: Lake Ozark, MO 65049, USA

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