Skip to Content

Title insurance

“I will be out of the office…forever” and I don’t want to deal with claims

Are you thinking of changing careers or law firms, selling the practice, or retiring? As other articles in this issue have highlighted, even after you retire, malpractice claims can engage your LawPRO E&O run-off coverage. Real estate lawyers should consider TitlePLUS title insurance since claims covered under the Legal Service Coverage¹ in a TitlePLUS policy… Read More »

Categories: 2017 August Managing Change, Articles, Real Estate, Title insurance, TitlePLUS

Using Title Insurance Safely Checklist

Title insurance plays an important role in real estate transactions. each transaction presents a different set of circumstances and risks. The Using Title Insurance Safely checklist (English) (Francais) keeps you on top of the variety of issues to consider when your are obtaining a title insurance policy for your client. The checklist provides further details… Read More »

Categories: Checklist, Title insurance

Don’t worry about minor differences in title insurance policy terms – if you choose the right policy

We know that it is important to review the coverages, exclusions and specific exceptions in title insurance policies with clients. However, with respect to standard policy coverages (provided they are not affected by any property-specific exceptions), lawyers should be aware that the nature of Legal Service Coverage in TitlePLUS policies makes differences in these coverages… Read More »

Categories: 2015 September Blue Sky, Articles, Real Estate, Title insurance, TitlePLUS

Lenders’ lawyers: beware of fake title insurance policies

While relatively rare, LAWPRO has seen instances of fake title insurance policies. Kathleen Waters, LAWPRO’s President & CEO, touched on the subject at the Law Society’s recent Real Estate Summit. An example of a situation in which a policy has been discovered to be fake is where the lender insured has asked that the borrower’s… Read More »

Categories: Areas of Law, Articles, Content Type, Real Estate, Title insurance

What do title insurers expect from lawyers?

Still relatively new in Canada, title insurance is not fully understood by many consumers. Even certain less-sophisticated lenders lack detailed knowledge of the product. The responsibility for explaining title insurance to those who purchase it – and for supporting insureds in obtaining coverage that suits their needs – falls squarely on lawyers’ shoulders. Lawyers are… Read More »

Categories: Areas of Law, Articles, Communications Errors, Content Type, Inadequate Investigation, Real Estate, Title insurance, Topics

You may be exposed to a claim if you release a private mortgage advance to a third party

LAWPRO has become aware of a new exception to coverage in certain title insurance policies which could expose real estate practitioners to claims from their private lender clients. The issue has recently arisen in connection with private residential mortgage transactions, and in particular where the lender and borrower are separately represented, as required, because the… Read More »

Categories: Alerts, Real Estate, Title insurance, TitlePLUS

Does title insurance bring benefits to the primary professional liability program?

We all know that notwithstanding the rise of title insurance in Ontario, claims arising from real estate practice are still a large (and in many years, the largest) exposure for the primary professional liability program that LAWPRO provides for the Law Society’s lawyer-licensees (the “E&O program”). We have explored why in other articles and settings…. Read More »

Categories: 2014 September Diversity, Articles, Insurance Business, Real Estate, Title insurance

Title insurance policies are like a box of chocolates – No two policies are the same

“The lawyer should be knowledgeable about title insurance and discuss with the client the advantages, conditions, and limitations of the various options and coverages generally available to the client through title insurance,” states Rule 2.02(10) of the Rules of Professional Conduct. This obligation was brought home in a recent malpractice case where the lawyer did… Read More »

Categories: 2014 September Diversity, Articles, Real Estate, Title insurance, TitlePLUS

How the real estate bar entered the insurance business, or what happens when a lawyer is also an insurance intermediary

Many of us deal with licensed insurance agents or registered brokers every year to purchase coverage, whether life, auto or home policies. When someone in Ontario wishes to obtain title insurance, the real estate lawyer effectively functions as insurance intermediary (although not technically an agent or a broker). Lest anyone think there is anything improper… Read More »

Categories: 2012 December Resolutions, Insurance Business, Real Estate, Title insurance, TitlePLUS

Land Acknowledgement

The offices of LAWPRO are located on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, Anishnabeg, Chippewa, Haudenosaunee and Wendat peoples. Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit. LAWPRO respects and acknowledges the histories, languages, knowledge systems, and cultures of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit nations.

Back to top