Title insurance

Title insurance indemnifies against defects in title — forged instruments, missed heirs, recording errors, liens the search failed to surface — in exchange for a one-time premium at closing. It exists because recording proves publication, not validity: the insurer searches the record, excepts what it finds, and stands behind the rest.

Its structural role explains New York conveyancing: deeds carry limited covenants because the policy, not the grantor's promises, protects the buyer; lenders require their own policies as a condition of funding. For records readers, the industry is also a quiet validator — what title companies will and won't insure over marks where the recorded chain's soft spots actually are.