Blog - Author: Brian Pritchard
Author: Brian Pritchard
What Does an Underwriter Do?
Demystifying the Process of Mortgage Underwriting After the global financial crisis of 2008 that led to the Great Recession, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau put new rules in place to protect buyers and ensure they weren’t be sold loans they couldn’t afford. After your initial loan pre-approval, it is the job of a loan underwriter to make sure the information on your loan application is accurate so that your loan can move forward to final approval and you can make your purchase. While this process may seem daunting and fraught with paperwork, the good news is that these verifications exist to protect you from being trapped under an unaffordable loan. Steps underwriters take between pre-approval and closing may include: Employment and salary verification Property appraisal Title search Securing title insurance Flood certification or requesting purchase of flood insurance Land survey A professional underwriter can help make this process as easy and painless as possible. Contact us with any questions you may have about underwriting, or any part of the mortgage closing
Why Do You Need Title Insurance?
Protecting Your Investment When you purchase a piece of real estate, there are so many moving parts to consider… and all that paperwork! In the midst of this sometimes overwhelming process, don’t cut yourself short by neglecting to secure the proper title insurance for your new property. This is a one-time purchase that happens during closing and it will protect you against a variety of legal issues. Without such protections, down the road, you could find yourself in a legal battle that compromises your investment and leaves you in a weaker financial position. Which Type Of Policy Do You Need? The two types of title insurance are an Owners Title Insurance Policy and a Lenders Title Insurance Policy. The former protects you as the purchaser of the property. The latter is for the protection of lending institutions that provide buyers with loans. So, what do these two kinds of policies actually help to prevent? In the case of the an Owners Title Insurance Policy, you are protected against issues such as: Any defects or mistakes in recording of legal documents Fraudulent acts of forged deeds, releases or wills Undisclosed heirs and missing spouses Deeds executed by a person of unsound mind Deeds executed by a minor Liens of unpaid taxes Prior mortgages State, federal and local liens Judgment liens Unmarketable titles In other words, as the new landowner, you are protected against any issues t