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ClosingCorp feeding closing costs to title agents | Katonah NY Real Estate

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Screen shot of Closing.com homepageScreen shot of Closing.com homepage

Agents for title insurance underwriter North American Title Insurance Co. (NATIC) now have free access to a service that provides guaranteed recording fee, transfer tax and filing instruction data for every residential property nationwide.

The service, DART, is offered by La Jolla, Calif.-based ClosingCorp, a closing costs data and technology provider for lenders, real estate professionals and consumers. ClosingCorp recently updated DART, which debuted in December 2011.

The service automatically determines which recording office or tax authority to use for each property by street address and generates the correct recording fees, transfer taxes and filing instructions. DART also calculates buyer and seller splits based on statutory and customary practices for every transfer tax location in the nation, the company said.

“With more than 4,000 recorder offices and tax jurisdictions and more than 80,000 related taxes, fees, customs, rules and regulations, DART gives title agents immediate access to the precise recording fee, transfer tax and recording instruction data that is so crucial for their businesses,” said Emilio Fernandez, president of NATIC, in a statement.

DART is available through NATIC’s internal AgentLink platform, which provides title agents with business tools and underwriting resources, including forms.

NATIC does business in 28 states. The Miami-based company had 0.83 percent market share nationwide in the second quarter, according to the American Land Title Association (ALTA).

via inman.com

The fiscal cliff would cut the deficit by $720 billion in 2013, but even deficit hawks hate it | Katonah Realtor

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If all you wanted to do was to reduce the deficit as quickly as possible, here’s one very simple way to get it done: Go off the fiscal cliff.

Do so would result in about $720 billion in total austerity in 2013, and it would bring down the deficit that year in some of major ways, including $180 billion from income tax hikes, $120 billion in revenue from the payroll tax, $110 billion from the sequester’s automatic spending cuts, and $160 billion from expiring tax breaks and other programs, according to Bank of America’s estimates.

So when businesses and politicians fret about the economic fallout from the fiscal cliff, they’re reacting to the consequences of dramatic deficit-reduction in the short-term. It would save the government hundreds of billions of dollars next year, but would also take away the equivalent 4.6 percent of GDP through tax hikes and spending cuts—a sharp fiscal contraction that economists say would be a drag on growth in a still-tepid economy.

Why, then, do so many in Washington believe that the only way to avoid to the dreadful consequences of deficit reduction is…deficit reduction?

It’s partly because there are some aspects of the fiscal cliff that Democrats and Republicans want to hang onto, albeit in a different form. Nobody wants the big, dumb cuts in the sequester to take effect. But, in theory at least, Republicans do want the $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction contained in the sequester: That’s what they demanded last year, at least, in exchange for raising the debt ceiling in August. And the expectation is that they’ll be pushing for an alternative to the across-the-board sequester that tries to avert the defense cuts while hanging onto the others.

Democrats prefer an alternative that would try to preserve other aspects of the fiscal cliff—namely, the Bush tax cuts expiring on high-income Americans. And leaders like Sen. Chuck Schumer are already trying to frame the looming fight in terms of a trade-off on the deficit: Why not not pay down the deficit instead of giving big tax cuts to wealthy Americans?

Finally, centrist deficit hawks want to use the fiscal cliff as an opportunity to push through their own plan for tax, spending and entitlement overhaul. It would entail much bigger overall deficit reduction, but phased in gradually instead of all at once. Even a “grand bargain” would have about $400 billion in 2013 austerity, as opposed to the $720 billion in the entire fiscal cliff, according to the Bank of America’s estimates. And they’re anticipating that the only way for either side to get what it wants is to sit down and agree to their kind of bargain.

So all of these schools of thought would take Congress in the direction of doing less immediate deficit-reduction, not more.

via washingtonpost.com

Snow Forecast for Morning Commute – Bedford-Katonah, NY Patch

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A winter weather advisory is in effect for Westchester County  until 2 p.m. today.

Today’s forecast calls for 1 to 3 inches of snow by the time many people wake up for their morning commute. An additional 2 to 4 inches is expected to land on the ground this morning into the early afternoon. Temperature are expected to reach a low of 26 and a high of 33.

Be prepared for slippery roads and reduced visibility.

via bedford.patch.com
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Buying Title Insurance in Katonah NY | Katonah NY Homes

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title ins by robert paulTo understand title policy insurance in America, let’s look at chain-of-title and how title companies search the public records. Title insurance companies aren’t really concerned with where dinosaurs once roamed, whether our ancestors trekked across the Bering Straight or where American Indian tribes settled. Title searches begin with when the United States government stole the land, I mean claimed it — from the U. S. patent — and move forward from that point.

Because humans are involved in recording deed transfers and plotting land parcels, a lot can go wrong. You want title insurance because it will protect you against defects and human error.Property Searches and Public RecordsDivision of Land

Early deeds involved large chunks of land known as Townships.

Townships contain 36 sections and are six miles by six miles.

Sections measure one mile by one mile and contain 640 acres.

Half of a section is 320 acres.

1/4 of a section is 160 acres.

1/4 section of 1/4 section is 40 acres.

An acre is 43,560 square feetTitle Search Basics

Title searches start with the most recent deed, searching the grantee’s name (the person now holding title) backwards in time, until the deed when the grantee acquired the property is located.

That grantor’s name is then searched backwards in time in the grantee’s book to find when the grantor acquired title as a grantee.

This process continues, and over time, the property description involves larger and larger parcels of land.

Eventually, the searcher finds the U. S. Patent.Other Factors Affecting Title

Deeds establish chain-of-title, but sometimes those chains are broken. In addition, title searchers also look for reconveyances (proof that the encumbrances are paid off), and they look for easements, rights-of-way, cc&rs, other elements affecting title to the property. Here are more records that are searched to piece title together:

Marriage records

Death certificates

Tax salesTitle Insurance Coverage

Depending on the title company, consumers can choose among a variety of options, but the top three choices are Owners, Lender’s and Extended Coverage.

Basic Owner’s Title Policy Coverage:

Clear title to the property

Incorrect signatures on documents

Forgery, fraud

Defective recordation

Restrictive covenants

Encumbrances or judgments

Basic Lender’s Title Policy Coverage:

Mechanic’s liens and unrecorded liens

Unrecorded easements and access rights

Defects and other unrecorded documents

Extended Owner’s Coverage

Building permit violations from previous owners

Subdivision maps

Covenant violations from previous owners

Living trusts

Structure damage from mineral extractions

Variety of encroachments and forgeries after title insurance is issuedWho Pays For Title Policy Insurance?

This depends on your local custom.

It can differ from county to county, but it is also negotiable in the purchase offer.

Sometimes sellers and buyers split the fee for the owner’s policy.

Typically, the buyer pays for the lender’s coverage.How Long Are Title Policies Good For?

Forever, theoretically. If you are planning to resell the property within a couple years, ask your title company about “binder” coverage. Most companies will sell you a binder policy for 10% more. A binder is good for two years, often can be extended beyond that time, and the fee charged for the new buyer’s policy will be the difference between what you bought the property for and the price at which it sold. In other words, you will get a credit for the amount of coverage you purchased under your own Owner’s Title policy.How Often Are Title Policy Insurance Premiums Paid?

Once. The fee is due when you buy. You will never pay it again. Title policy insurance is the best insurance policy you can ever buy.Property transfers were first recorded alphabetically in separate Grantor and Grantee books.

The books are heavy to lift and dusty.

County records are often maintained at local courthouses or the Clerk of Registrars.

Today, most records are stored on the computer.

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