Protecting Your Property Rights

CALIFORNIA TITLE COMPANY HAS A VESTED INTEREST IN THE CONSUMERS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.

Protecting Your Property Rights

Califor nia CONSUMER REPORT CALIFORNIA TITLE COMPANY HAS A VESTED INTEREST

IN THE CONSUMERS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.

AUGUST 2017 ISSUE

The information contained herein is deemed to be reliable, but it is not guaranteed. California Title Company assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Images may be subject to copyright. ©2017 California Title Company.

SHARE THIS CONSUMER ALERT: BEWARE OF WIRE FRAUD SCHEMES WHEN BUYING A HOMEBuying a home is an exciting time. You’ve saved, found the perfect home and planned the move. Now, the clos-ing day for your home is just around the corner.

The American Land Title Association wants to make sure your home purchase doesn’t get derailed by a dangerous threat that could keep you from getting the keys, painting walls and decorating. Criminals have stolen money meant for the purchase of homes through mali-cious wire fraud schemes targeting consumers across the country.

Criminals begin the wire fraud process way before the attempted theft occurs. Most often, they begin with a common social engineering technique called phishing. This can take the form of email messages, website forms or phone calls to fraudulently obtain private informa-tion. Through seemingly harmless com-munication, criminals trick users into inputting their information or clicking a link that allows hackers to steal login and password information.

Once hackers gain access to an email account, they will monitor messages to find someone in the process of buying a home. Hacks can come from various parties involved in a transaction, includ-

ing real estate agents, title companies, attorneys or consumers. Criminals then use the stolen information to email fraudulent wire transfer instructions disguised to appear as if they came from a professional you’re working with to purchase a home. If you receive an email with wiring instructions, don’t respond. Email is not a secure way to send financial information. If you take the bait, your money could be gone in minutes.

“Attorneys and title companies have tak-en many steps to combat this problem, such as putting consumer warnings on websites and communications, secur-ing email communications and sending notices to consumers and real estate agents informing them of the scams,” said Michelle Korsmo, chief executive officer of the American Land Title As-sociation. “But the criminals are smart and constantly alter their tactics to steal information and money.

“Everyone involved in real estate trans-actions must also be aware of the poten-tial losses as criminals phish for infor-mation and stalk home closings, hoping someone makes a mistake. If someone does mess up, it could cost your savings or retirement.”

Here are five tips to protect against wire fraud:

1. Call, don’t email: Confirm all wiring in-structions by phone before transferring funds. Use the phone number from the title company’s website or a business card.

2. Be suspicious: title companies DO NOT CHANGE wiring instructions and payment info

3. Confirm it all: Ask your bank to con-firm not just the account number but also the name on the account before sending a wire.

4. Verify immediately: You should call the title company or escrow to validate that the funds were received. Fraud can all happen within a matter of a few hours - be vigilant and contact your title company IMMEDIATELY to verify funds were received. Use the phone number from the title company’s website or a business card.

5. Forward, don’t reply: When respond-ing to an email, hit forward instead of reply and then start typing in the person’s email address. Criminals use email address that are very similar to the real one for a company. By typing in email addresses you will make it easier to discover if a fraudster is after you. DO NOT ACCEPT, REPLY OR FORWARD OPEN PLATFORM EMAILS. i.e. gmail, yahoo, cox, etc.

California first met legislature in San Jose in 1850, a few months before statehood, and there adopted the recording system for land titles. Un-der the Mexican regime, California had only the crudest land title registration. (There were, after all, only some 700 valid private land titles in the State, together with a smattering of mission and pueblo lands.) The recording system gave the soon-to-be State of California the benefits of an American device that had proven to be useful in searching land titles and making land transfers simpler.

However simple such a system might have seemed to that first legis-lature of a new American possession (California, before it became a state, never attained the status of an official “territory”), it was not simple enough. The world had rushed into California with the Gold Rush of 1849. The population of San Francisco grew more than a hundredfold in that year. The average person uneducated in the niceties of

common-law conveyancing, per-petuities, and the like, could not make efficient use of the record-er’s office. Thus grew up whole industries—conveyancers, ab-stractors, attorneys and experts who would furnish “certificates of title” and in due course, com-panies that insured land titles.It is, if not enlightening, at least entertaining to get some sense of those early days in California in terms of land titles.

In 1852, the San Francisco City Directory carried this advertise-ment for Theodore Payne & C.: “Real Estate Business in all its branches, for the conducting of which they esteem themselves peculiarly qualified by having giv-en it their especial attention for over two years past, and made themselves familiar with all ques-tions affecting titles, etc., etc.”

The San Francisco City Directory for 1856 lists four “Searchers of recorders and conveyancers.”

They were Joseph Clement, C.V. Gillespie, Gun-nison & Parker, and G.W. Waugh. Gunnison & Parker, who identified themselves as “attorneys and counselors at law” asserted, “We have pre-pared books containing a chain of title to every lot of land in the City and County of San Fran-cisco, with maps of each subdivision and own-ers. We will give Abstracts of Title at the Shortest Notice.” Waugh claimed to be a “Searcher of Records and Examiner of Titles,” asserting that he had “compiled more information and is better equipped than any man in the City in reference

to the Validity of Titles in the City and County of San Fran-cisco.”

With the explosion in vol-ume of public land records, in real-estate transfers and hence of the business of conveyancing, the convey-ancer or title lawyer often delegated the job of re-searching and assembling

information regarding title to others. These persons became skilled as “abstractors” and in time established their own offices, and sub-mitted the result of their searching to attorneys for written opinions before advising customers. The “abstract of title” thus came into use. The abstract was simply a written history of the re-corded transactions affecting a particular parcel of land. The abstract did not originate in Califor-nia, however. It had been used in the first part of the 19th century in other states.

The abstract of title is almost never used in Cali-fornia today, but at least until a few years ago it was still in some use in other parts of the United States, especially in the Midwest. In California, the abstract in time gave way to the “certificate of title,” which proved a shortcut for persons buying and selling land. The abstract of title was often as ponderous as a San Francisco or Los Angeles directory of the time. An abstract com-prising the whole of Rancho San Jose in Pomona Valley, Los Angeles County, required 37 large volumes, and yet the only part that was of im-portance to the parties to the transaction was the attorneys opinion attached. In the fullness of time, the attorney’s opinion was all that the purchaser was interested in seeing, and the ab-stractors retained the voluminous fruits of their labor in their own offices.

HISTORYof TITLE INSURANCE

Originally published at: www.clta.org/page/HistoryOfTI

Insurance of land titles did not origi-nate in California,

although it attained its greatest purchase

as an industry in this state. The story

of title insurance in California begins

with the State’s early attempts to fashion

a title registration system.

"Thus grew up whole in-dustries—conveyancers, abstractors, attorneys and experts who would furnish “certificates of title” and in due course, companies that insured land titles."

Title insurance policies cover a variety of interests in real property, one of which is an easement. An easement is de-fined as an interest in the land of another, entitling the owner of the interest to a limited use or enjoyment of the land. This means that a person, (or company) has the right to use the property of another person for a specific purpose. An ease-ment burdens the land it is upon and limits that land owner’s use of this property.

An owner of an easement has only such control as is nec-essary to enable him to use the easement—it is a limited non-possessory interest. An easement can be created for a driveway, an underground pipeline, for pole lines, or for many other uses. Easements are usually created for a particular purpose.

Many parcels of real property, both improved and unimproved are either benefited or burdened by easements. Easements are regarded as encumbrances on real property, and they are commonly encountered in two situations:

1. As an encumbrance on a parcel of real property (shown as an exception in a policy of title insurance), and2. As an insurable interest in another’s land in favor of the owner of a parcel, access to which depends on an easement.

Essential Qualities and Characteristics:A. It is an interest in land.

B. It is an interest in the land of another.C. It is a nonpossessory interest.

D. It may be affirmative or negative.E. It must be capable of being created by conveyance

or reservation

If you have questions concerning any matter reflected in a preliminary report or title policy,

contact your Cal Title sales rep for additional details.

After a months-long search, you finally find your family’s dream home—a safe neighbor-hood and great schools, and a big backyard for the swimming pool you plan to build. You move in and hire a contrac-tor, but a few days into construction the contrac-tor finds an underground utility line running right through the middle of your backyard. You check your owner’s policy and find out that the title search did not discover this easement.

If the homeowner purchased an owner’s policy, their title insur-ance company would pay to have the underground utility relocated so they could build their swim-ming pool.

Call 811 at least a few days before you start any digging project. Whether you are planning to do it yourself or hire a professional, smart dig-ging means calling 811 before each job.http://call811.com

UNDERGROUND

UTILITY LINES WHAT IS AN EASEMENT, AND HOW IS IT REFLECTED IN A TITLE POLICY?

ADVERSE POSSESSION The unauthorized occupation of land belonging to another, by a per-

son who does not have the consent of the owner. Said occupier is said

to hold possession adversely to the rights and interests of the owner. In

most states, by operation of law, title to the land becomes vested in such

occupier after a fixed number of years of peaceful occupancy.TITL

E TE

RM

AUGUST 2017San Diego Events Calendar

San Diego Farmers Markets Ongoinghttp://sdfarmbureau.org/BuyLocal/Farmers-Markets.php

San Diego Food Trucks Ongoingwww.sdfoodtrucks.com

Bayside Summer Nights 2017 Thru AugustThis is where music lovers gather to enjoy a picnic on the lawn, share a bottle of champagne at reserved tables, or sit in the grandstand taking in the beauty of San Diego Bay. All concerts begin at 7:30pm unless otherwise noted on purchase page.http://www.sandiegosymphony.org

Sip of Julian Aug 5The Sip features many of Julian’s alcoholic beverage purveyors. "Proof that we’re not just about apples and great pie, we have growers and producers of wine, craft beer, craft cocktails, and hard cider, offering up a sampling of their hand-crafted specialties."www.visitjulian.com

Vans Warped Tour Aug 5www.vanswarpedtour.com

Farm to Bay Aug 5Enjoy tastes and sips from over 40 food and beverage partners. Experience animal encounters on a National Wildlife Refuge with views of San Diego Bay. Support sustainability with a Zero Waste event goal.Eighth-annual fundraiser, a unique tasting event that supports coastal wildlife, education, and sustainability programs at the Living Coast.www.thelivingcoast.org/events-calendar/farmtobay

Lemon Festival Aug 6Celebrate this juicy jubilee with the community by sporting your brightest yellow outfit and enjoying lemon-infused activities including live bands, sour contests, a Festival Fun Zone, craft beer garden, and hundreds of festive booths.http://thirdavenuevillage.com

Oceanside International Film Festival 2017 Aug 6-13Over the course of eight days, OIFF 2017 will screen over 70 films and showcase some of the best San Diego has to offer in local craft brew and catering. Founded by the Oceanside Cultural Art Foundation in 2009.https://impactflow.com

Automobile Heritage Day Festival & Car Show Aug 1226th annual event, hosted by the National City Chamber of Commerce. Live music, food from a variety of National City eateries, entertainment for children, and specialty booths. A drive-by awards ceremony at 2 pm will showcase first-place winners for each of the classes as well as second- and third-place winners.www.automobileheritageday.com

CityFest Aug 13This year’s festival include over 250 artisans and crafters from across the country, international food court, live music, kids' zone, Furry Fosters petting zoo, over six blocks of fun, beer garden, four Artist Alleys showcasing up-and-coming work from local artists. Proceeds go toward the upkeep of the Hillcrest sign and beautification projects in Hillcrest.http://fabuloushillcrest.com

Cardiff Dog Days of Summer Aug 13Cardiff 101 Main Street is proud to partner with the City of Encinitas to present the 12th Annual Cardiff Dog Days of Summer with 200 dog-related vendors and rescue groups, pet adoptions, live music, dog contests, kids' activities, beer & wine garden, food trucks, and more.http://www.cardiff101.com

Summergrass Festival Aug 18-20The bill includes Bluegrass Etc., Sideline, Nu Blu, Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, Chris Cerna & Bluegrass Republic, MojaviSoul, Front Porch Music Preservation Society, Prairie Sky, the Brombies, and Vulcan Mountain Boys.www.summergrass.net

Taco & Spirits Revolution Aug 19Step into the revolution of 2017 at HarborFest! For its third year in a row, the Taco & Spirits Revolution returns to Bayside Park where chefs and spirit companies compete for the title of #1 Taco and #1 Spirit. http://www.cvharborfest.com

Stone 21st Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival Aug 19This festival is not only the largest craft beer festival in Southern California, it's also our largest annual charitable event. We're proud to support our community by donating 100% of the proceeds. www.stonebrewing.com

World Bodysurfing Championships Aug 19-20During the World Bodysurfing Championships, 350-400 bodysurfers from around the world compete in their respective age divisions for trophies and prizes.http://www.worldbodysurfing.org

BBQ State Championship Aug 20More than 40 of the nation’s top professional BBQ Pitmasters, local restaurants, and chefs will be competing in this State Championship sanctioned by the Kansas City BBQ Society. Attendees will enjoy tasty BBQ samples, local craft beer, and live music throughout the day.www.dmtc.com

International Kids Film Festival Aug 25-27San Diego International Kids Film Festival will screening 100+ films from 30+ countries complete with red carpet, fashion presentation, speakers, and celebrity guests. One of the only multicultural events for families with kids.www.maeya.org

Brew & Food Festival Aug 26The third annual Brew & Food Festival (BFF) invites craft beer and food enthusiasts to experience tastings of more than 200 craft beers from 70 brewers, and culinary creations from more than 20 top chefs from San Diego, Tijuana and Baja. In addition, BFF will host live music performances, including a silent disco dome with dueling DJs on separate channels. www. brewandfoodfest.com

10th Annual Bike the Bay August 27Ride the bridge, Bike the Bay! This non-competitive community bike ride is for riders of all abilities and will take you on a scenic, and primarily flat, ride around the San Diego Bay via the Bayshore Bikeway. All riders will return to San Diego for a post-ride festival with food, beverage, beer garden and entertainment.www.bikethebay.net

Visit our website for more title related news and information! WWW.CALTITLE.COM