2 September 2008 216 views No Comment

Title insurance is one of the best ways to protect your investment in Mexico real estate. One of the worst case scenarios is that you purchase a home from someone who doesn’t have title to the property, such as in the case of buying eijido land that has not been properly privatized (see Beware the Ejidos). There are also the risks of fraud, leins on the property for loans made to previous owners, expired government permits, and errors in the title records.  Having good title insurance will protect the buyer from many of these types of risks by insuring against loss resulting from a bad title.

One of the most experienced and credible companies from which you can acquire title insurance is First American Corp. First American has been around for over a century and is a Fortune 500 company. They have been insuring international real estate titles since 1970.

Here is an excerpt from the Mexico title insurance page of their website:

“Clients can rest assured that each policy is issued directly by First American Title Insurance Company and obliges First American to defend covered matters in a court of law in the jurisdiction of the property. First American will respond to challenges to the insured title by defending and/or paying for actual loss to the insured.

Through First American, clients can also tap into the local network of attorneys approved in each jurisdiction to aid First American in the issuance of its policies in the region. This network of professionals will help ensure smooth closings for real estate transactions in an overseas country.”

Title insurance companies will likely thoroughly research your title to protect themselves, so they are another set of eyes to examine the title documents in addition to the notario publico (the government representative responsible for oversight of the title transfer) and also your lawyer if you choose to get one. In addition to First American Title Insurance, another provider is Stewart Title Company. Also, LandAmerica Financial, and Fidelity National Financial have recently opened title insurance operations in Mexico.