When You Need Off-Title Searches

Virtually all residential closings use title insurance.

And on any standard single-family purchase, off-title searches aren't usually part of the picture.

That changes the moment a property has more than one self-contained unit.

A basement apartment, an in-law suite, an ADU... title insurers flag these.

For any property with 2 to 6 units, they require a Building and Zoning Compliance search and a Fire Search before they'll issue a clean owner's policy.

Without them, those units get excluded from coverage.

Timing

We order these searches the moment we open a file and identify a property as potentially multi-unit. It's on our internal checklist from day one.

The problem is turnaround times vary by municipality.

Some come in a day or two. Others can run 10 to 15 business days. That's longer than some closing timelines.

We had this come up recently. File came in with a closing 12 days out, a secondary unit on the property, and a municipality with a longer turnaround.

We managed to order a rush on the search and got the results back in time. But things were tight.

What's Important

If you're working on a deal with a basement apartment or any secondary unit, two things are worth knowing going in:

1. there will be additional search costs,
2. those searches take time.

The earlier we get the file, the more time we have to get the results back, review them, and make sure your client closes with a clean policy.

YouTube Video: