Title Commitment and Policy
Drafts an ALTA-standard Title Commitment identifying state of title, requirements for policy issuance, and exceptions to coverage.
Prerequisites
Collect before drafting:
- Property — legal description, APN, county, state
- Transaction — purchase price or loan amount, policy type (Owner's/Loan/Leasehold), closing date
- Vesting — current owner(s) of record with recording reference
- Title search — all encumbrances, liens, easements, CC&Rs, judgments from examination
- Parties — proposed insured(s), full legal names with entity designations
- Encumbrances — mortgages, deeds of trust, tax status, assessments to address at closing
Document Structure
Header
- Title: "COMMITMENT FOR TITLE INSURANCE"
- Issuing company: full legal name, jurisdiction-licensed
- Commitment number:
[YEAR]-[OFFICE CODE]-[SEQ]
- Effective date: date through which title search was conducted
Schedule A — Transaction Details
Draft in order:
- Policy type — ALTA Owner's (2006), Loan, or Leasehold; specify form version
- Policy amount — purchase price (owner's) or loan amount (lender's); format
$X,XXX,XXX.00
- Proposed insured — full legal names with entity designations; specify ownership percentages if multiple
- Current vesting — owner(s) per most recent deed with recording reference (instrument number or book/page)
- Legal description — verbatim from deed or survey; jurisdiction-appropriate format (metes and bounds, lot/block, government survey); include plat references; separate multiple parcels
Schedule B, Part I — Requirements
List all conditions for policy issuance in closing-timeline order:
- Premium and fees payment
- Purchase price / loan funding confirmation via settlement statement
- Conveyance instrument — deed executed, acknowledged, recorded
- Existing lien releases — payoff statements + recorded satisfactions for all non-surviving mortgages, DOTs, judgment liens, tax liens
- Owner's affidavit — possession, mechanic's liens, unrecorded interests, recent improvements
- Entity authority — good standing, resolutions, incumbency certificates (if entity parties)
- Survey — current ALTA/NSPS if needed to remove standard survey exception
- Gap coverage — gap indemnity or bring-down search if effective-to-closing gap exists
Distinguish requirements due before, at, and after closing.
Schedule B, Part II — Exceptions
Open with: policy will not insure against loss from the following unless removed or modified prior to closing.
Standard exceptions (removable by endorsement — note applicable ALTA endorsement form number):
- Rights/claims of parties in possession not in public records
- Easements not shown by public records
- Encroachments, boundary issues discoverable by survey/inspection
- Mechanic's/materialmen's liens not yet of record
- Taxes/assessments not yet shown as liens
Specific exceptions — each must include full detail:
| Type |
Required Detail |
| Real property taxes |
Current year status; prior year confirmation |
| CC&Rs |
Recording reference; subdivision/HOA designation |
| Easements |
Holder, purpose, location, recording ref; appurtenant vs. servient |
| Surviving mortgages/DOTs |
Lender, original principal, recording ref, estimated balance |
| Judgments/liens |
Creditor, amount, recording ref; property vs. owner's interest |
| Lis pendens |
Case number, court, nature of action |
| Special assessments/CDD |
Authority, purpose, amount, payment status |
| Mineral/subsurface rights |
Scope of severance, recording reference |
Pitfalls and Checks
- Every recorded-document reference needs jurisdiction-appropriate locator info (instrument number OR book/page OR official record number)
- Maintain exact consistency in party names, legal descriptions, and recording references throughout
- If assuming existing financing, except the surviving lien in Part II — do not list it as a requirement to release
- Do not draft endorsements inline; reference applicable ALTA endorsement form numbers only
- Spell out months in dates; use
$X,XXX,XXX.00 for dollar amounts
- Mark any unverifiable citation or statutory reference as
[VERIFY]
1---2name: title-commitment3description: Drafts ALTA-compliant Title Commitment documents for commercial real estate transactions including Schedule A, Schedule B Parts I and II. Use when preparing title commitments, preliminary title reports, title insurance policies, or pre-closing title documents.4---5
6# Title Commitment and Policy
7
8Drafts an ALTA-standard Title Commitment identifying state of title, requirements for policy issuance, and exceptions to coverage.
9
10## Prerequisites
11
12Collect before drafting:
13
14- **Property** — legal description, APN, county, state
15- **Transaction** — purchase price or loan amount, policy type (Owner's/Loan/Leasehold), closing date
16- **Vesting** — current owner(s) of record with recording reference
17- **Title search** — all encumbrances, liens, easements, CC&Rs, judgments from examination
18- **Parties** — proposed insured(s), full legal names with entity designations
19- **Encumbrances** — mortgages, deeds of trust, tax status, assessments to address at closing
20
21## Document Structure
22
23### Header
24
25- Title: "COMMITMENT FOR TITLE INSURANCE"
26- Issuing company: full legal name, jurisdiction-licensed
27- Commitment number: `[YEAR]-[OFFICE CODE]-[SEQ]`
28- Effective date: date through which title search was conducted
29
30### Schedule A — Transaction Details
31
32Draft in order:
33
341. **Policy type** — ALTA Owner's (2006), Loan, or Leasehold; specify form version
352. **Policy amount** — purchase price (owner's) or loan amount (lender's); format `$X,XXX,XXX.00`
363. **Proposed insured** — full legal names with entity designations; specify ownership percentages if multiple
374. **Current vesting** — owner(s) per most recent deed with recording reference (instrument number or book/page)
385. **Legal description** — verbatim from deed or survey; jurisdiction-appropriate format (metes and bounds, lot/block, government survey); include plat references; separate multiple parcels
39
40### Schedule B, Part I — Requirements
41
42List all conditions for policy issuance in closing-timeline order:
43
441. Premium and fees payment
452. Purchase price / loan funding confirmation via settlement statement
463. Conveyance instrument — deed executed, acknowledged, recorded
474. Existing lien releases — payoff statements + recorded satisfactions for all non-surviving mortgages, DOTs, judgment liens, tax liens
485. Owner's affidavit — possession, mechanic's liens, unrecorded interests, recent improvements
496. Entity authority — good standing, resolutions, incumbency certificates (if entity parties)
507. Survey — current ALTA/NSPS if needed to remove standard survey exception
518. Gap coverage — gap indemnity or bring-down search if effective-to-closing gap exists
52
53Distinguish requirements due **before**, **at**, and **after** closing.
54
55### Schedule B, Part II — Exceptions
56
57Open with: policy will not insure against loss from the following unless removed or modified prior to closing.
58
59**Standard exceptions** (removable by endorsement — note applicable ALTA endorsement form number):
60
61- Rights/claims of parties in possession not in public records
62- Easements not shown by public records
63- Encroachments, boundary issues discoverable by survey/inspection
64- Mechanic's/materialmen's liens not yet of record
65- Taxes/assessments not yet shown as liens
66
67**Specific exceptions** — each must include full detail:
68
69| Type | Required Detail |
70|------|----------------|
71| Real property taxes | Current year status; prior year confirmation |
72| CC&Rs | Recording reference; subdivision/HOA designation |
73| Easements | Holder, purpose, location, recording ref; appurtenant vs. servient |
74| Surviving mortgages/DOTs | Lender, original principal, recording ref, estimated balance |
75| Judgments/liens | Creditor, amount, recording ref; property vs. owner's interest |
76| Lis pendens | Case number, court, nature of action |
77| Special assessments/CDD | Authority, purpose, amount, payment status |
78| Mineral/subsurface rights | Scope of severance, recording reference |
79
80## Pitfalls and Checks
81
82- Every recorded-document reference needs jurisdiction-appropriate locator info (instrument number OR book/page OR official record number)
83- Maintain exact consistency in party names, legal descriptions, and recording references throughout
84- If assuming existing financing, except the surviving lien in Part II — do **not** list it as a requirement to release
85- Do not draft endorsements inline; reference applicable ALTA endorsement form numbers only
86- Spell out months in dates; use `$X,XXX,XXX.00` for dollar amounts
87- Mark any unverifiable citation or statutory reference as `[VERIFY]`
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