A very good friend of mine in California is owed over $200K in back child support.  The State of California put a lien on a property owned by her ex-husband and his current wife in Massachusetts in April 2007.  The property in Massachusetts was sold in June 2007.  However, the lien was not paid!!  Apparently, the out-of-state title company employed by the settlement attorney did not do a thorough search and MISSED the lien!!  Now, the lien remains with the property and the new owners could be held liable for paying her the $200K+.  Hopefully, they purchased the owner’s title insurance when they settled on the property!  If so, the title company now owes the money to my friend.  It will then be their job to go after the Seller’s for failing to disclose the known lien on the property they sold.  I suspect such fraud could result in possible jail time for the sellers.

Crazy, isn’t it?  Make sure your buyers get their owner’s title insurance!!!  I ALWAYS insist mine do!

Michelle, Thanks for your input! I've been less than enthusiastic about title insurance to be honest. Obviously you're obligated to buy title insurance for your lender. I'm never sure there's really that much risk. Any other opinions out there?