Hidden Risk

A title risk that cannot be ascertained from an examination of the public records. The most common hidden risks include the following: forgery or lack of delivery in the chain of title (forged mortgage release), corporate forgery (the execution of an instrument not authorized by the appropriate officers), minority of a party to an instrument, death of a principal before execution of an instrument by the attorney-in-fact, conveyance in fraud of creditors, elective share rights of the spouse of a first party who falsely claimed to be single, and potential vulnerability of the subject property to mechanics’ liens. All such hidden risks are covered under standard policies of title insurance but not under a standard certificate of title or an attorney’s opinion that certifies record title.