Download Full Version PA-Title-Insurance-Agent Insurance Licensing Exam

Joint tenancy, when created with the right of survivorship, allows the deceased joint tenant’s interest to pass automatically to the surviving title holder by operation of law. That survivorship feature is what the question is testing. Tenancy in common does not include automatic survivorship; a deceased tenant in common’s share passes through the estate or by will or intestacy. A real estate contract interest is contractual, not a survivorship estate. Fee simple describes the broadest ownership estate, but it does not itself identify how title passes at death. For title purposes, survivorship ownership must be confirmed because it affects whether probate is required and how marketable title is shown after death. Pennsylvania’s title outline includes joint tenancy, tenancy in common, tenancy by the entirety, and decedents’ estates.

The written waiver must be signed by the mortgagor, meaning the owner-borrower/purchaser who is waiving the right to purchase owner’s title insurance. Pennsylvania regulation requires the title insurer or title agent, when issuing a mortgagee’s title policy in a purchase-money transaction and no owner’s policy has been ordered, to advise the mortgagor in writing that the lender’s policy does not protect the owner. If the mortgagor elects not to purchase owner’s coverage, the company must obtain the mortgagor’s written statement acknowledging receipt of the notice and waiving the right to buy owner’s title insurance. The mortgagee receives the loan policy; the waiver protects the owner-purchaser disclosure process.

A bill of sale is least likely to be recorded in the real property records because it usually transfers personal property, not an estate or lien in real property. By contrast, a mortgage lien is recorded to give public notice of the lender’s security interest. A mechanic’s lien is recorded or filed to preserve a statutory claim for labor or materials. A satisfaction of mortgage is recorded to show that a mortgage lien has been paid and released. Recording is essential in title practice because title examiners rely on public records to identify conveyances, liens, releases, and encumbrances affecting land. The Pennsylvania title outline includes mortgages, releases, recording steps, recording systems, mechanic’s liens, and title exceptions.