How title insurance can provide security against sophisticated scammers

Daniel Wold is the acting president of the Americal Land Title Association (ALTA). Founded in 1907, ALTA's mission is to improve the skills and knowledge of providers in the real property transaction, effectively advocate member concerns, and standardize products for industry use.   In this episode, Daniel explains how title insurance works; how it is different than other insurance types; shares about how ALTA combats fraudsters: and informs you about what to look out for to keep your largest assets secure.  www.alta.org   --- Transcript Before we jump into the episode, here's a quick disclaimer about our content. The Remote Real Estate Investor podcast is for informational purposes only, and is not intended as investment advice. The views, opinions and strategies of both the hosts and the guests are their own and should not be considered as guidance from Roofstock. Make sure to always run your own numbers, make your own independent decisions and seek investment advice from licensed professionals. Michael: Hey, everyone, welcome to another episode of the remote real estate investor. I'm Michael Albaum. And today I'm joined by Dan Wold, president of the American Land Title Association. And he's going to be talking to us today about title insurance. What is it? When do we need it, as well as wire fraud and how to combat it and all of our real estate transactions? So let's get into it.   Hey, Dan, thank you so much for coming on the show and hanging out with me today. I really appreciate it.   Dan: Well, it's my pleasure. And hopefully we can touch on some really important topics today.   Michael: Yes, yes, I'm very much looking forward to it. And right before we started recording here, you and I were chatting about kind of what it is that the American Land Title Association does, and you are the president of, but so I'd love if you could share a little bit with our listeners.   Dan: Well, our governance structure has a board of governors, and this year, I am the well, actually just just incoming president for the upcoming year. And that kind of a real quick primer on title insurance, you know, we basically are involved with land title transfers, and and then ensuring the lien priorities of the of the lenders as well. So we issue owner's title insurance policies, to the consumer that purchases the property. And we like to kind of just boil it down to we protect property interests.   And we also provide peace of mind because we're the ones that sweat the details in relation to all the stuff that goes on in relation to a settlement or closing. And so that the consumer, you know, they run around doing all kinds of things at the last minute, we're there to help them and give them peace of mind.   Michael: It's It's funny, how many things get pushed until the very last minute and most closing, isn't it?   Dan: Yeah, and things pop up. And, you know, we've got so many Lanta professionals around the country that, you know, do this for a living have seen pretty much everything that you can throw at them that they are very capable at, you know, navigating the challenges that could come up in any given closing transaction?   Michael: Well, that's good to know that I'm not I don't have to be the first guinea pig with any of my closings coming up. So that's exciting.   I'm curious, Dan, if you could just elaborate a little bit more on what title insurance is, because I've got to admit, as part of, you know, the head coach and Program Manager with Roofstock Academy. This is a question that I get asked a lot of times by students in the program, so give us a kind of a high level breakdown of just what is it? And why should somebody may be thinking about getting it because it is optional, oftentimes with an all cash deal?   Dan: Well, it is it's a one time charge that occurs, you know, as part of the closing transaction. And essentially what we do, which is interesting and unique about our industry versus other insurance industries,