How to choose a title company for your home purchase

Q: Can I choose my own title company as a buyer?

Yes. In most transactions the buyer has the right to select the title company, and under RESPA the seller cannot require you to purchase title insurance from a particular company as a condition of sale. Your agent or lender may recommend one, but you are free to shop, compare fees, and pick the provider you trust most.

Q: How much does a title company cost?

Title-related charges usually include a settlement or closing fee, title search fee, and title insurance premiums, often totaling several hundred to a few thousand dollars depending on the purchase price and state. These charges appear in your Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure, so you can compare quotes from multiple companies before committing.

Q: What questions should I ask a title company before hiring them?

Ask how long they have been in business, who their underwriter is, whether they carry errors-and-omissions and liability insurance, what their claims history looks like, and how they protect against escrow and wire fraud. Also ask about turnaround times for the title search and whether they offer digital or remote closing options.

Q: Is a local or national title company better?

Local title companies often know county recording practices, regional title quirks, and local players, which can speed up problem-solving. National companies may offer more technology and standardized processes. Either can work well; what matters most is the company's underwriter strength, service quality, fees, and independence from the parties selling you the home.

Written by Samantha SheltonNMLS 1647301Updated September 2026

Home buyers meeting with a title company professional at a conference table before closing on a house

To choose a title company, compare at least two or three providers on experience, underwriter strength, fees, and wire fraud protection instead of defaulting to whoever the listing agent names first. Federal law backs you up here: under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), when the home is being purchased with the assistance of a federally related mortgage loan, which covers virtually every residential mortgage, a seller can’t require you to buy title insurance from any particular title company as a condition of selling you the home, and a seller who does is liable to you for three times all charges made for that title insurance.

Title and settlement charges are part of your closing costs, which Freddie Mac puts at 2% – 5% of the purchase price. They also sit in the one part of your Loan Estimate you’re explicitly allowed to shop.

Learn how to choose a title company, including what a title company actually does, the seven factors worth comparing, and the questions to ask before you hire one. If you’re earlier in the process, start with our Home Buying guide.

Key takeaways:

A title company does 3 jobs: it searches the public record for anything clouding the seller’s ownership, issues the title insurance that covers what the search missed, and acts as the neutral settlement agent holding and disbursing every dollar at closing.
The choice is legally yours: on a mortgage-financed purchase, a seller can’t force you to buy title insurance from a particular company, and RESPA makes a seller who tries liable to the buyer for 3 times all charges made for that title insurance.
Compare 2 or 3 companies on 7 factors: experience, underwriter strength, service quality, local versus national reach, fees, independence, and fraud security with every quote in writing before you commit.

What does a title company do?

A title company does three jobs in a home purchase: it searches the public record for anything that clouds the seller’s ownership, it issues the title insurance that protects against what the search missed, and it acts as the neutral settlement agent that holds and disburses everyone’s money at closing. That combination is why the choice matters, the same company researches your risk, insures it, and holds your cash.

The title search: An examiner reads the recorded history of the property, deeds, mortgages, judgments, easements, and unpaid taxes, looking for anything that would keep the seller from transferring clean ownership. Unresolved property liens are the most common find, and how fast one gets cleared decides whether you close on schedule.
Title insurance: Two policies exist. The lender’s policy, which nearly every lender requires, protects only the amount the lender lent. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is blunt that it doesn’t protect your equity. The owner’s policy is optional, protects your investment, and usually costs less when both come from one provider. Our guide to why title insurance is important covers what each pays for.
Escrow and settlement: The title company typically holds your earnest money, receives your loan funds, prepares the settlement figures, pays off the seller’s mortgage and liens, disburses proceeds, and records the new deed. That recording is the conveyance making you the owner of record; the role of escrow in home buying shows how the money moves in sequence.

Not every state runs closings this way. In some, an attorney or a dedicated escrow company is the settlement agent instead, which changes who you’re hiring, see the role of a closing attorney and Nolo’s legal guide to what buyers can expect at a real estate closing. Either way, the sequence follows the home closing process.

How to choose a title company: 7 factors to compare

Your choice shows up in three places, what you pay, whether you close on time, and who’s holding your money the day a wire request lands in your inbox. A company that clears a stray lien in 48 hours and one that takes two weeks produce very different closing dates on the same contract, which is why this belongs early in the home buying process.

1. Experience and reputation

Ask how many years the company has been writing title in your county and roughly how many closings it handles a month. County volume beats national brand recognition, because recording rules, transfer-tax forms, and municipal lien practices are county-level details. Confirm the state license, then read recent reviews for the pattern that matters: not star counts, but whether buyers describe last-minute figure changes and unreturned calls.

2. Underwriter financial strength and claims history

The company you talk to is often an agent; the underwriter behind it is the insurer that actually pays a claim, so ask who that underwriter is first. Your lender already applies this test: Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide requires a title insurer to be duly authorized and licensed to issue title insurance in the state where the property is located, and requires the lender to evaluate that insurer on factors that may include ratings from rating agencies, financial strength, adequate reserves, satisfactory claims resolution history, and the strength of reinsurance arrangements. Use the same yardstick, and ask whether the company itself carries errors-and-omissions and general liability coverage.

3. Service quality and communication

Ask for the name and direct number of the closer handling your file, and how many business days it takes to deliver the title commitment after they receive the contract. A named human on your file is the difference between a problem surfacing three weeks before closing and surfacing the morning of. Our guide to preparing for a home closing lists what you’ll need from them and when.

4. Local knowledge versus national reach

Neither wins outright, so match the choice to your file. An unusual title history rewards local expertise; a long-distance purchase rewards a strong remote-closing platform.

Factor	Local title company	National title company
County expertise	Knows the register of deeds, municipal lien searches, and which fixes actually work	Standardized process that may not anticipate a local quirk
Technology	Varies widely; some offer remote online notarization, some don’t	Usually stronger portals, e-signing, and remote closing
Pricing	Quoted file by file; often negotiable on the settlement fee	Published fee schedules; less room to negotiate
Problem-solving	Direct access to the person who can escalate a cure	Escalation may route through a regional queue
Underwriter backing	Places business with one or several underwriters, ask which	Often affiliated with a single large underwriter

5. Fee structure and what you’re actually allowed to shop

Your Loan Estimate splits third-party charges into services you can’t shop for and services you can, and title work usually falls on the shoppable side. Your lender must deliver that Loan Estimate no later than the third business day after receiving your application, and with it a written list identifying available providers for each shoppable service and stating plainly that you may choose a different provider.

That last clause is where the savings live, and it carries a tradeoff:

Pick a provider from the lender’s list: the charge falls inside a 10% cumulative tolerance, meaning the total of those third-party charges and recording fees generally can’t come in more than 10% above what was disclosed.
Pick a provider not on the list: you keep the right to shop, but that 10% ceiling no longer applies. The estimate only had to be consistent with the best information reasonably available to the lender. Get a written quote from the company itself so the number isn’t a guess.

Compare line by line rather than by total: settlement fee, search or examination fee, lender’s and owner’s premiums, endorsements, wire and courier fees, and recording charges. Say two companies quote on the same $300,000 purchase, one at a $650 settlement fee and a $250 search fee, the other at $895 and $175. The premiums may be close; the fee lines aren’t.¹

Then verify the numbers survived. Your Closing Disclosure must reach you at least three business days before closing, and the CFPB explainer on reviewing your Closing Disclosure walks through comparing it against your Loan Estimate. Our guide to closing costs and what to expect as a buyer covers the rest of the line items.

6. Independence and neutrality

The settlement agent is supposed to be the neutral party in a deal where nobody else is, so ask whether the company is owned in whole or in part by the brokerage, the agent, or the builder across the table. Affiliated arrangements are legal but regulated: when someone refers you to a settlement service provider they hold an ownership or affiliate relationship with, RESPA requires a written Affiliated Business Arrangement Disclosure Statement on a separate piece of paper no later than the time of the referral, they generally cannot require you to use that provider, and the only thing of value they may receive from the arrangement is a return on that ownership interest or franchise relationship.²

A disclosed affiliation isn’t automatically a problem. An undisclosed one, or a referral that arrives with pressure attached, is. And a seller offering to cover title charges doesn’t transfer the choice, see seller-paid closing costs.

7. Technology and wire fraud protection

Closing wires are a standing target for criminals. The American Land Title Association, the title industry’s trade group, runs a cyber and wire fraud resource center covering the schemes in which bad actors manipulate transactions, misrepresent ownership, or redirect funds during the closing process. Ask each candidate how they transmit wire instructions, whether they use a secure portal instead of plain email, and what their callback procedure is when instructions supposedly change.

The CFPB’s guidance for buyers is worth following no matter who you hire: identify two trusted individuals ahead of time who can confirm the closing process and payment instructions, confirm wiring instructions with them before you send money, and never use a phone number or link that came from an email. Email is not a secure way to send financial information. If a wire goes out wrong, call your bank immediately to request a recall and file with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. The American Land Title Association resources on title and closing cover the industry’s own best practices.

Red flags to watch for and the questions to ask before you hire

Four warning signs account for most bad title experiences, and every one is visible before you commit.

Pressure to use one specific company: A recommendation is normal. A refusal to proceed unless you use a named title company is a RESPA problem coming from the seller, and a reason to ask harder questions coming from anyone else.
An affiliation you had to discover yourself: Ownership relationships must be disclosed in writing on a separate page at the time of referral. Finding out from a business filing instead tells you something.
Vague or verbal-only fee quotes: A company that won’t put its fees in writing before you engage them won’t get more transparent after.
Slow or scattered communication: Unreturned calls during the sales stage predict unreturned calls the week of closing, when the cost of silence is a delayed funding.

The 10-question checklist to run on every candidate

1. How long have you been closing files in this county? Local volume beats national tenure.
2. Who is your title insurance underwriter? That’s who pays a claim, not the agent you’re talking to.
3. Are you licensed in this state, and what’s your license number? Verify it with the state regulator.
4. Do you carry errors-and-omissions and general liability coverage? Ask for limits, not a yes.
5. What does your claims history look like? Ask who you’d call after closing.
6. What are your settlement, search, and examination fees in writing? Line items, not a total.
7. Does anyone in this transaction have an ownership interest in your company? That should already be on a disclosure form.
8. How many business days from contract to title commitment? This number drives your closing date.
9. How do you transmit wire instructions and verify changes? Listen for a callback procedure and a secure portal.
10. Who is my named closer, and what’s their direct number? A file with an owner moves faster than a file in a queue.

How do you compare your finalists and decide?

Narrow to two or three companies and weight the seven factors by what your file needs: a clean resale rewards the low fee quote, while an estate sale or an old survey issue rewards the company that answered your questions in detail. Build the shortlist from independent sources, ask your agent and your loan officer for names, add one you found yourself, then check each against state licensing records. Order title within days of signing the contract, since the search is the step most likely to surface something that takes real time to fix. Making this call during preparing to buy is the cheapest version of it.

How Align moves your purchase to the closing table

Over the last 12 months, Samantha's loans averaged under 14 days from application to clear to close, across more than 100 loans. Your closing date is set by your purchase agreement. Her job is to have your loan ready well before it.

She handles your file herself, with a processor supporting her behind the scenes. You always know who to call, and the person who answers knows your goals.

Build your homebuyer game plan

Sources: Align Lending loan records, 12 months to October 2026.

FAQ: Choosing a title company

Here are answers to common questions about choosing a title company.

Can I choose my own title company as a buyer?

Yes, in most transactions. When you’re buying with the assistance of a federally related mortgage loan, RESPA prohibits a seller from requiring you to buy title insurance from a particular company as a condition of selling you the home, and a seller who violates that is liable to you for three times all charges made for that title insurance. Your agent or lender may recommend a company, but you’re free to shop. Our guide to a real estate agent’s role in closing explains where their recommendation fits.

How much does a title company cost?

It depends on your purchase price, loan amount, and state, since title insurers are licensed and regulated state by state. Freddie Mac puts total closing costs at 2% to 5% of the purchase price, and title work is one slice: a settlement or closing fee, a search or examination fee, and the lender’s and optional owner’s premiums. All of it appears on your Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure. See how to budget for closing costs.

What questions should I ask a title company before hiring them?

Start with five: how long they’ve closed files in your county, who their title insurance underwriter is, whether they carry errors-and-omissions and liability coverage, what their claims history looks like, and how they protect against wire and escrow fraud. Then ask turnaround time from contract to title commitment. The same vetting logic applies to choosing a home inspector.

Is a local or national title company better?

It depends on your transaction. Local companies typically know county recording practices and regional title quirks, which speeds up problem-solving on a messy title. National companies often bring stronger technology, which helps on a long-distance purchase. Either can work well, underwriter strength, service, fees, and independence matter more than size. Read up on state-specific home buying regulations first.

The bottom line on choosing a title company

Choosing a title company comes down to shopping it like any other line item. Compare at least two or three providers on the seven factors above, county experience, underwriter strength and claims history, service quality, local versus national reach, written fees, independence, and wire fraud protection. The choice is legally yours: on a mortgage-financed purchase, a seller can’t require you to buy title insurance from a particular company, and one who tries is liable to you for three times all charges made for that title insurance. Title work is part of closing costs that run 2% – 5% of the purchase price, so the comparison is worth the hour.

If you’re ready to line up a smooth closing, talk to Align Lending, we’ll shop your scenario across our lender network, show you the numbers side by side, and coordinate with the title company you choose so your closing date holds. Call 248-506-5727 or start online today.

Footnotes:

1. Example figures are hypothetical and for educational purposes only; they do not constitute an advertisement of credit terms or a rate quote under federal or state lending laws. Actual title, settlement, and premium charges depend on the property, the purchase price, the loan amount, the provider you select, and the state where the property is located. Return to text.

2. Summaries of RESPA and Regulation X here are general and educational, not legal advice. Settlement practices, licensing, and who may act as a settlement agent vary by state, and statutory requirements and remedies are subject to change. Consult a licensed real estate attorney or your state regulator about your transaction. Return to text.

Sources: on a property purchased with the assistance of a federally related mortgage loan, a seller may not require title insurance from a particular title company, and the buyer’s remedy is three times all charges made for such title insurance, RESPA section 9, 12 U.S.C. § 2608, implemented at 12 CFR § 1024.16. Affiliated Business Arrangement Disclosure Statement on a separate piece of paper no later than the time of each referral, the prohibition on requiring use of a particular provider, and the limit on value received to a return on an ownership interest or franchise relationship, 12 CFR § 1024.15. Loan Estimate delivered no later than the third business day after application, and the written list of settlement service providers, 12 CFR § 1026.19(e)(1)(iii) and (e)(1)(vi). The 10 percent cumulative tolerance and the treatment of off-list providers, 12 CFR § 1026.19(e)(3)(ii) and (e)(3)(iii). Closing Disclosure received no later than three business days before consummation, 12 CFR § 1026.19(f)(1)(ii). Lender’s title insurance protecting only the amount lent, the optional owner’s policy, the lower combined cost from one provider, and wire-instruction verification and IC3 reporting guidance, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Closing costs of 2% – 5% of the purchase price, Freddie Mac. Title insurer licensing and lender evaluation of ratings, financial strength, reserves, claims history, and reinsurance, Fannie Mae Selling Guide B7-2-02. Real estate fraud schemes in which bad actors manipulate transactions, misrepresent ownership, or redirect funds during the closing process, American Land Title Association cyber and wire fraud resources.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, financial, or tax advice. Title, escrow, and settlement practices are governed by state law and vary by state; contracts, title commitments, and affiliated business disclosures should be reviewed by a licensed real estate professional or attorney in your state. Figures shown are illustrative and are not a rate quote or an offer of credit. Align Lending is an independent Michigan mortgage broker, NMLS #2041154.