Tag: construction

Construction Hold-Open Commitments

The 2020 residential building season is now upon us!   Building season brings construction loans and the title concerns that come with this type of financing.   There can be concerns about the duplication of title services and costs that come along with it as well as insuring that the title to the real estate does not collect liens and other title issues prior to permanent financing.   At Tallgrass Title, we are pleased to offer a “construction hold-open” type commitment to assist in the construction of residential property.

Tallgrass Title is proud to say that we can assist in this area!

Q:  How is residential construction financed?

A:  People constructing a home will typically borrow money in order to finance the construction with a “construction loan.”  A construction loan is short term financing of real estate construction.  Generally, a construction loan is followed by long term financing called an “End Loan” that is issued upon completion of improvements.

Q:  Do both loans need title insurance?

A:  Because of the nature of a construction loan, Lenders are often concerned about the length of time a commitment is valid from its issuance.  Commonly, the commitment expires before the construction can be completed and  before going to end loan. To solve this issue, lenders will pay for a full title policy on the construction loan and then again on the end-loan.  The downside is that this creates duplicated costs.

How we can help:

Tallgrass Title is the only title insurance company in the area that offers a “Construction Hold-Open Commitment.”  A Construction Hold Open Commitment provides periodic updates of the construction loan commitment every 120 days keeping the title coverage valid until the end loan is closed.  Therefore, the costs are not duplicated between the construction loan and the end loan.

How to request:

Simply order a Construction Hold-Open Commitment from Tallgrass Title and we will perform the initial search and issue a Commitment for a $200 fee.  The Construction Hold-Open Commitment is then valid for 120 days from the Commitment Date and can be renewed for an additional 120 days with an update. We will perform two updates as part of the initial fee.  We will typically send out an update reminder when the expiration date is near. However, we do not perform updates without a request from the lender. After the second update, if further updates are required there will be an additional $50 fee per update. Construction Hold-opens can remain open indefinitely with the appropriate updates.

When the construction is complete and the mortgage is ready to go to End Loan or final policy we will do a final update at no additional charge. When the Final Mortgage is ready to be filed we collect the Premium and any Endorsement fees and record the New Mortgage. Our office must record the Mortgage and any other required documents with the Register of Deeds Office to ensure that the title is free and clear of any possible new liens. When the recorded documents come back from the county and all the requirements are met we will issue the Policy.

For those of you that use our Paperless Closer system, simply note that the loan is for new construction and type into the notes that you want a Construction Hold-Open Commitment.  If you prefer to email the order, please note the request on your order form.

Please contact our office if you have any questions!  We look forward to assisting you in the 2020 building season. 

Construction Loans – Mainly for Lenders

As a Lender, do you have clients who want to build a new house on their lot? Here at Tallgrass Title, we offer a construction hold-open, also known as a construction commitment or policy. We get questions about this product quite often, so we thought we could help clear up some of the confusion surrounding this topic.

How it works:
You, as the lender, contact us, the title company, to request the title work. An email sent to order@tallgrasstitleks.com is sufficient, or you can fill in the online order form on our website. We complete the title search and send the commitment to you. The commitment will contain a specific set of construction language and the date of the first search. Here is an example of what that commitment language might look like:

The title search must be updated every 120 days. This is because title insurance commitments have expiration dates. Here at Tallgrass Title, we keep an eye on the expiration dates and remind you when it is time to request an update. You can just send us a quick email to “officially” request the update. We keep the message in our file for our underwriters to see. Our initial construction loan fee covers the cost of the initial search, plus two update searches.

When construction is complete, the loan can be closed. At that time, the lender can determine if the initial mortgage will stay in place or if a new mortgage will be filed. The cost of the final policy is charged at the final loan closing as soon as the title company has been notified of the final mortgage amount. The lender’s policy is generated and sent to the lender after the final loan closing has happened.

FAQ’s:

• The property owners want to remodel, will a construction loan work?
– At this time, the title construction commitment is only for new construction, not for a remodel of an existing structure. If the house is already standing, the construction commitment is not something we can offer you. It has to be a new structure, or a brand-new wing added on to an existing structure. You may need to consider a 2nd mortgage, HELOC or some other financing product.

• The construction is going over-budget. How does that affect the construction commitment?
– We are very flexible when it comes to the projected loan amount. If the amount needs to be increased, we can certainly do that once you send us the request.

• Our clients haven’t yet purchased the lot they want to build on. Do they have to purchase the lot, then get a construction loan?
– We can work with lenders on the lot purchase and construction hold-open as parts of the same transaction. We can issue the owner’s policy soon after the initial sale closing and issue the lender’s policy later, once the construction is complete.

• The sale transaction closed, when will we get the lender’s policy?
– As mentioned above, we cannot issue the lender’s policy until the final mortgage has closed and has been filed. As soon as construction is complete and the mortgage finalized we can go ahead and issue the lender’s policy.

Here at Tallgrass Title, we work to make the deal go as smoothly as possible. Give us a call today and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have about construction title policies!