Title and escrow can sometimes make your head spin. We’ve put together a list of most frequently asked questions, sorted by user, to help you to understand and navigate the process like a pro.
Simple answer, YES. If your client is planning to wire funds to Security Title Company our instructions will NEVER change. Have your client plan to speak to one of their Escrow Team Members. Please have them call our main line and ask to speak to one of their team members, 406.522.5500. Education is important and here are three helpful and informative videos to share with your client.
Simple answer, YES. If you plan to wire funds to Security Title Company please note our instructions will NEVER change. Call our main line, 406.522.5500, and ask one of your Escrow Team Members to confirm the instructions. Education is important and here are three helpful and informative videos. Your money is important to you and Security Title Company.
The setup fee is $300. For additional fees and draw fees, please refer to the construction disbursement agreement.
Possibly. Typically, we need to have a title insurance policy as well as a lender involved in the project. Please call 406.522.5500 with questions.
We can best explain over the phone. Please call us at 406.522.5500.
Once the order had been entered into our system, an email is sent to the agent, lender, attorney or seller/buyer in a “For Sale By Owner” with your examiner and escrow team members.
We suggest you work with an attorney. Here is a resource for Bozeman real estate attorneys.
If you are a business, partnership or trust, we will need your FEIN number. If you are an individual, we need the last four digits of your social security number. If water rights are transferring though the closing, we will need DNRC docs.
This means there is not a passable route to reach your property.
Depending on the access, a permit may be required. For further questions, please call a title officer.
Seller - As your title commitment is reviewed, please be prepared to provide your HOA contacts, payoff information for any loans and after-sale mailing address. Also, please pass along any information you have about water rights.
Buyer - Is your closing remote or local? Please be able to provide your trust, LLC or other docs for underwriter approval and review, if applicable.
Even if your taxes and insurance are rolled into your escrow account, you will continue to get a bill. We suggest getting confirmation that your escrow account has paid for the taxes and/or insurance.
Your closing disclosure or settlement statement would refer to the credit or debit for taxes. If you have additional questions, your Security Title Company escrow team is happy to help. Find your team’s info on the front sheet of your closing packet.
If you are working with a lender, they will have a list of approved appraisers. If you don’t have a lender, here is the link to the Gallatin Association of Realtors. They can help.
No, you can find one online or have an attorney prepare a contract for you. We do have a “For Sale By Owner” form that may help in the preparation.
No, we do not. Those are prepared by an attorney or realtor.
Please see the calculators on our Calculators page.
We don’t have a list, but if we do have a contact we are happy to share their information.
Certified funds in the form of a wire or cashier’s check. If you have questions, please contact your escrow team.
Possession is determined by your buy/sell agreement. Contact your agent with further questions.
Provide us the contact information for the other title company. We will work with them to get the funds to them.
Your escrow team can send you instructions. First, we will need the following:
1. Full legal name
2. Mobile number. This cannot be a land line or your office land line number.
3. Email address
Sellers, please bring a government issued photo ID. Buyers, please bring a government issued photo ID and funds in the form of a cashier’s check (certified funds) or wire.
We are able to release funds once the transaction has been recorded. If the transaction records after the bank’s wire cutoff, the funds are wired the following business day. Once the wire has been sent, it is bank dependent on when the funds will enter your account.
Security Title Company's license number is 10150. Title insurance agents and title agencies must obtain a license in the states where they plan to work.
A lender's title policy protects the lender's interest up to the amount of the loan. The owner's coverage protects the buyer of the property's interests if a title problem comes up. While lenders' policies typically contain an extended level of coverage, the owner's coverage comes in standard or extended forms.
We will need all the title requirements met before closing, such as article of organization, LLC docs and any document(s) showing who can execute documents on behalf of that entity.
A beneficiary deed, also called a transfer-on-death deed, transfers the property to a beneficiary only upon your death.
Joint tenants are property co-owners who acquire equal shares of the property on the same property deed at the same time. Tenants in common are also two or more people who own real estate together. They can have equal ownership or different percentages of ownership. Tenants in common can come into ownership at different times, unlike joint tenants.
There are a few different ways, including joint tenancy, being tenants in common and receiving a beneficiary's deed.
We can transfer them if you provide us with an abstract number, but we can’t research them. For more information about water rights, contact the DNRC with questions.
It depends. Once we have the funds, we will cut the check within 24 hours. If you have questions, please call us at 406.522.5500.
That is the date when the property was searched for ownership, liens, or encumbrances on the said property.
No.
Possibly. Please contact your escrow team to learn more. Typically, a fee of $175 will apply (that fee total may vary).
Please see the fee sheet.
In Gallatin County, it is 4:30 PM MST. In Park and Madison counties it is 4:15PM MST.
We must have the original to record. It may not be a copy. Please provide a copy before closing for review. Bring the original to closing. Also, if a lender is involved, they will need to approve the power of attorney.
The planning and zoning department in your county can best answer those questions. Please contact the office in the county in which you reside or are purchasing property.
If you have purchased or refinanced within three years a discount may be provided. Please contact your examiner with questions.
We are regulated by the insurance commissioner for the State of Montana. Rates come from the commissioner.
We can provide you with the copy of the document(s.) We do not provide legal advice but can suggest an attorney for legal review.
That information can be found in the welcome email you received.
A new order must be received in-house prior to receiving wire instructions. An escrow assistant will coordinate providing the certified instructions. We will need your legal name, email address and cell phone number to send instructions.
Please email allorders@sectitle.com.
We cannot. We are only in the business of real property. Please contact the Montana Motor Vehicle Division for anything vehicle-related.
Even if your taxes and insurance are rolled into your escrow account, you will continue to get a bill. We suggest getting confirmation that your escrow has paid for the taxes and/or insurance.
Please visit the septic and waste department for the county in which you reside or are purchasing property.
Flood zones are provided by planning offices by county. Please visit your county’s planning office online for more information about flood zones.
The front cover of the title commitment provides the contact information for your title and escrow officers.
Security Title Company. A personal check is OK for earnest money, but certified funds are required for closing. Funds may also be wired to us.
A personal check with the property address listed. If you are dropping it off in the box outside our Bozeman office, please include a phone number where we can reach you if we have questions. You can also wire it to us. If you wire it, please include the property address and the name on the buy/sell.
No. You would need to have a full title examination completed.
They are a one-time fee paid at closing.
For as long as you own the property.
Escrow is the process in which the funds of a transaction, like the sale of a house, are held by a third party. Our in-house escrow team handles this process for you and walks you through every step, answering any questions you have along the way. Escrow professionals are neutral during this process, ensuring a fair and honest process.
Our in-house team creates your insurance policy. An escrow officer or lender opens the title order, then a title agent or attorney begins a title search. This is a thorough process that results in a Preliminary Report that is given to the customer for review and approval. All closing documents are recorded upon escrow’s instruction. When recording has been confirmed, demands are paid, funds are disbursed then the actual title insurance policy is created.
Anyone buying property as well as lenders need title insurance in order to be insured against various possible title defects (like those mentioned above). The buyer, seller and lender all benefit from issuance of title insurance. An owner’s policy insures the buyer. A lender’s policy insures the financial institution.
Title insurance protects against claims from defects, like another person claiming ownership, improperly recorded documents, fraud, forgery, liens, encroachments, easements and other items specified in the insurance policy.
Car, life, health and other kinds of insurance protect against potential future events and is paid for with monthly or annual premiums. Title insurance insures against events that occurred in the past of the real estate property and the people who owned it. It is a one-time premium paid at the close of the escrow.
A title is a legal document that details the specifics about a property. It can be used as evidence that an owner is in lawful possession of it. Every property has one.
While other kinds of insurance protect you from what might happen in the future, title insurance protects you from your property’s past. Title insurance protects real estate owners and lenders against property loss or damage they might experience because of liens, encumbrances or defects in the title to the property. Each title insurance policy is subject to specific terms, conditions and exclusions.
Typically, you will receive it a day or two before closing. But, if a lender is involved, we need to receive their numbers. Our hope is ASAP. Reach out to your escrow team with questions.
We are happy to send them. Contact your examiner or email examiners@sectitle.com.
Once the order had been entered into our system, an email is sent to the agent, lender, attorney or seller/buyer in a “For Sale By Owner” with your examiner and escrow team members’ information.
