What is a Title Company?

A title company is a business that specializes in handling the transfer of ownership of real estate. In a Idaho real estate transaction, the title company plays a number of important roles, including:

1. Conducting a title search: The title company will search public records to ensure that the seller is the legitimate owner of the property and that there are no liens or other claims on the property.
   
   
2. Issuing title insurance: The title company will issue a title insurance policy to the buyer, which protects the buyer against any problems with the title to the property that may arise in the future.
   
   
3. Facilitating the closing process: The title company will coordinate the closing process, including preparing and reviewing the closing documents, disbursing funds, and recording the deed.
   
   
4. Handling the escrow process: In some cases, the title company may also handle the escrow process, which involves holding onto the funds and documents related to the transaction until all of the necessary conditions have been met.

The title company helps to ensure that the real estate transaction is conducted smoothly and that the ownership of the property is transferred legally and properly. It also insures that the work they do has identified all known public liens and other encumbrances have been identified and resolved with the buyer and seller before closing. The make sure that the legal description of the property is correct and represents the property correctly. These tasks and others are performed by title company employees.

Title company employees play a variety of roles in the real estate transaction process. Some of the specific roles that title company employees may have include:

• Title Officer - A title officer oversees the entire title process to make sure that all of the steps necessary to prepare title insurance are satisfied before closing. The title officer interfaces with the escrow officer, real estate agents, buyers, and sellers, to gather and process all of the information necessary to transfer property.
  
  
• Title abstractor: A title abstractor is responsible for searching public records to determine the history of the property and ensure that the seller is the legitimate owner of the property.
  
  
• Title examiner: A title examiner is responsible for reviewing the title abstract and identifying any potential problems with the title, such as liens or other claims on the property.
  
  
• Escrow officer: An escrow officer is responsible for handling the escrow process, including holding onto the funds and documents related to the transaction until all of the necessary conditions have been met.
  
  
• Closing agent: A closing agent is responsible for coordinating the closing process, including preparing and reviewing the closing documents, disbursing funds, and recording the deed.
  
  
• Title insurance underwriter: A title insurance underwriter is responsible for evaluating the risk associated with issuing a title insurance policy and determining the terms and conditions of the policy.

The employees of a title company work together to ensure that the real estate transaction is conducted smoothly and that the ownership of the property is transferred legally and properly. You'll notice that some of the roles use the name of Title and others use the role of Escrow. This can often be confusing to people as most, but not all title companies provide escrow services too. 

Are title companies and escrow companies the same thing?

Title companies and escrow companies are similar in that they both play important roles in the real estate transaction process. However, they are not the same thing.

A title company is a business that specializes in handling the transfer of ownership of real estate. This includes conducting a title search, issuing title insurance, facilitating the closing process, and handling the escrow process.

An escrow company, on the other hand, is a neutral third party that holds onto the funds and documents related to a real estate transaction until all of the necessary conditions have been met. Once those conditions are met, the escrow company disburses the funds and transfers ownership of the property.

In some cases, a title company may also offer escrow services. In these cases, the title company is responsible for both the title-related tasks and the escrow-related tasks in the real estate transaction. However, it is also possible for a separate escrow company to handle the escrow process in a real estate transaction, while the title-related tasks are handled by a different company.