The Attorney’s Guide to Title Insurance

More than 20 years ago when this book was first published by IICLE, most of the resource information about the title insurance industry existed only on the shelves of executives and lawyers for title insurance underwriters. The original book was designed to be a resource for practicing attorneys. The book underwent minor revisions in 1984 and was distributed nationally by the General Practice Section of the American Bar Association in 1987.
Change comes eventually even to the arcane and archaic world of real estate and title insurance. We used to think that the essence of our business is that we look in books that are 150 years old checking for problems, and when we find some we cheer, for now we have exceptions to put in Schedule B, justifying our work and our fees. Today we know that we must focus on facilitating the real estate transaction. Some of the processes remain pretty much unchanged, both arcane and archaic, while other processes have been either eliminated or enhanced in this electronic age. In addition, more and more title companies seek to add more and more ancillary products and services to their offerings. Whether such efforts are wise or ultimately successful is in control of the marketplace — though legislators and regulators will have their say, at least in the short run.
Whatever direction the industry takes, however, the title insurance policy remains an important part of the settlement process. This current volume is designed to be a comprehensive and current resource for those attorneys — whether they represent parties during the transaction (sellers, buyers, lenders) or are involved in subsequent claims and litigation as plaintiff or defendant. The current volume has benefited from the volunteer efforts of a number of highly qualified and talented Illinois attorneys. The results of their work are outstanding, and I am particularly gratified that they are willing to share their expertise with us on these pages.