Why Title Insurance?

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What is Title Insurance?

Buying a home is usually the largest single investment one will ever make. When going through the process of buying a home, many types of insurances are purchased. These include insurances such as flood insurance and homeowners insurance. Those protect against loss from floods, fire, theft or wind damage. Title Insurance, however, protects you against the hidden threats in the title of your investment.

When buying a home, you are purchasing the Title to the property, this gives you the right to occupy the land and home. Title Insurance is very important, as it protects against title hazards. This insurance is purchased with a one time premium at the time of closing on the transaction.

What Kinds of Title Insurance Are There?

There are two basic kinds of Title Insurance to be issued at the time of closing, Lender and Owners.

When you purchase a home using a Financial Institution or Lender, they usually require that a Lender's Title Insurance be issued for the purchase. This is required, just like they may require other types of insurance, to add security for their investment in the property.

Owner's Title Insurance is a coverage that lasts as long as you hold interest in the property. The hazards this protects against will be further highlighted in the next subheading.

What Are You Getting?

When acquiring Title Insurance, the Title Agency works on eliminating risk before Title is even transferred into your name. This will then give the Owner a clear Title.

This process involves a search of the Public Records for the property. The examination will report all possible hazards on Title, to be worked on and cleared. Some issues that may be discovered include:

• Deeds, Affidavits, or Trusts that reflect incorrect names or wording

• Mortgages that are outstanding

• Judgment Liens that may or may not be for the current owner

• Property Taxes that are unpaid or delinquent

• Incomplete Notary Acknowledgments

The above are the more-so obvious Title Hazards. There are, however, hidden ones that may be brought to the surface after closing- despite the careful and dedicated search. These additional hidden hazards could include the following:

• Forged signatures on Deed- this could mean that Title was not technically transferred to the new Owner

• Heirs that were unknown or previous owners claiming ownership

• Documents that were completed with an expired Power of Attorney

• Public Record mistakes

When purchasing Title Insurance, you are purchasing protection against the above hazards- a defense for your investment. The Insurer will pay to defend against the claims and will rectify the situation.

Your home is your most important investment and Title Insurance is extremely important in protecting your investment. Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have regarding the coverage.

Property Taxes- Explained

Ohio's oldest tax, Real Property Tax, can sometimes be confusing- due to the payments being paid in arrears, as well as different reductions or assessments that may need to be accounted for. In this Month's Newsletter, the breakdown and due dates of Property Taxes will be further explained. All real property owners, who are not specifically exempt, are subject to the real property tax.

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Due Dates

In the State of Ohio, property taxes are paid one year in arrears and are paid on a semi- annual plan.

The meaning of "in arrears" is behind with paying money that is owed. Due to the State of Ohio billing taxes one year in arrears, you are paying for the past year's taxes in the current year.

When reviewing a tax bill (shown below), it shows 2019 Taxes, Due and Payable 2020.

A semi-annual plan is when taxes are paid twice a year or half-yearly. Typically, taxes are due and payable on one designated date in the months of January or February (First Half) and in June or July (Second Half). This date is determined by the County around a month before the actual due date.

Below are a list of some of the Counties in Ohio, showing their First Half Due Date.

Cuyahoga County- Due on 01/23/2020

Geauga County- Due on 02/12/2020

Huron County- Due on 02/14/2020

Medina County- Due on 02/14/2020

Lorain County- Due on 02/14/2020

Erie County- Due on 02/14/2020

Ashtabula County- Due on 02/19/2020

Lake County- Due on 02/19/2020

Summit County- Due on 02/21/2020

Stark County- Due on 02/26/2020

Property Taxes are considered late and become delinquent the day after the due date.

There are no discounts for paying Property Taxes early.

Tax Base

Property tax is an ad valorem tax, or tax based on value. The Tax Base is the taxable, assessed, value of the land and improvements (building). This assessed value is 35% of the market value of the property, except for land that is devoted to agricultural use exclusively. The Tax Rates vary by taxing jurisdiction; a combination, unique to the jurisdiction, creates a separate taxing district. This combination is based upon School Districts, Counties, Municipalities, Townships, and Special Service Districts.

Exemptions and Credits

Governmental or Private Institutional Organizations' real property may be exempt based on how the property is used, as well as how it is owned. Ohio's Department of Taxation calculates effective tax rates, yearly, based on tax reduction factors. When applying tax reduction factors, real property is divided into two classes. Class I is residential and agricultural property. Class II is considered all other real property.

Homestead Reduction is available to the homesteads of qualifying homeowners, including:

• at least 65 years of age

• permanently or completely disabled

• at least 59 years of age and are the surviving spouse of a deceased taxpayer who previously was receiving the exemption

The Homestead Exemption shields up to $25,000.00 of the taxable value from property taxation of an eligible taxpayer. Additional information regarding Homestead Reduction can be found at tax.Ohio.gov.

Special Assessments may occur on your Tax Bill. These Special Assessments are additional charges to the property taxes to fund a specific project. These Assessments are based on your tax jurisdiction and can be further explained by your County's Auditor Office.

For additional questions or explanations, please feel free to call us at (440) 835.4505.

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If you are in need of a current Tax Bill or Copy of Current Vesting Deed, please visit our Tax & Legal page to request those. Requests can also be email to us at docs@erieviewtitle.com.

Cybercrime- What You Should Know

In the Business world, we use our technology very frequently. Technology makes our life easier when it comes to completing our business tasks. But, there are some things we should keep in mind and look out for as we go about our daily business.

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Email:

One of the major and primary ways we communicate, for business and personal reasons, is email. Due to this being a heavily used tool by many, it has become one of the main ways cyber criminals attack individuals and companies. Email can be used to spread malware, spam, as well as phishing attacks.

What You Should Look Out For:

1. Be sure you know who you are responding to. Emails can be intercepted, meaning that who you sent the email to does not receive it and a third party takes over. Double-checking that the address you originally sent the email to is the same that responds is a simple way to play it safe.

2. Never give out private/ confidential information through email such as your Social Security Number. As emails can be intercepted, this information can be taken. Keep the sharing of sensitive information to a minimum.

3. Opt for a Security System attachment for your email to encrypt your emails that may contain sensitive information. Also, spam filters and anti-virus software are good resources to take advantage of.

4. Refrain from opening attachments that are sent by unknown senders.

5. If you receive an email that you were not expecting or it has odd misspellings or improper grammar, proceed with caution.

Social Engineering:

Social Engineering is the art of exploiting human psychology to gain access to systems or data instead of breaking in or using hacking techniques. This is the simplest way that cyber attackers have found to steal your information, simply by tricking the user.

What You Should Look Out For:

1. Receiving an email from a coworker or personal friend and it seems odd. This could be in a language or with the use of grammar that they do not usually use. Also, if the email asks for information that you believe that person already knows.

2. Fake News: The message of the email is that you have won something that seems too good to be true, such as the lottery or an extravagant vacation.

3. Bogus Phone Call: The caller may claim that they are with a Government Agency or that they are a vendor/employee of a trusted external company and request information. Threats of jail time or penalty payments may even be used as a scare tactic. Another scenario of a bogus phone call could be the caller asking for your password because they need to handle a technical issue related to your account. A legitimate organization will never request your password that you use to login.

Urgent Messages or Scare Tactics:

By creating the strong sense of urgency, the cyber attacker makes the user feel they have to decide quickly. This may cause the user to make a mistake or act in a way they would usually not.

Examples:

1. Receiving an email or phone call that implies there has been a change to your wire instructions at the last minute. The cyber attacker may then request you to change your original plans to still meet the deadline.

2. Receiving a phone call, text, or an email that alerts you that your account is suspended and that you will have to follow their link or tell them over the phone your personal information to update and unlock your account.

In conclusion, technology makes doing business more efficient. However, please be aware of the possible dangers and how to be proactive so that you do not experience the consequences of falling victim to cyber criminals.

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Erieview Title Agency's Policy regarding Wire Instructions.

Please look to ORT's Wire Fraud Protection Plan for a safe route when Wiring Funds or dealing with important and sensitive information.