Insurance Licensing Updated PA-Title-Insurance-Agent Exam Questions and Answers by dougie

Intervening liens that would prevent the lender from having first lien priority can be addressed by subordination. A subordination agreement makes an otherwise prior or intervening lienholder agree that its lien will rank behind the insured mortgage. That clears the priority problem for loan-policy underwriting. “Waived to the lien” and “restricted to the lien” are not the correct title-clearing terms. Subrogation is different: it allows one party to step into another party’s priority position after paying a debt or claim; it is not the normal document used when an existing lienholder agrees to become junior. The Pennsylvania title outline expressly includes voluntary and involuntary liens, releases, assignments, subordinations, and title-clearing procedures.

An ALTA survey discloses physical and locational matters affecting the land, such as improvements, visible features, boundary relationships, encroachments, and possible setback-line issues. A pond located on the land can be shown because it is a physical feature. Improvements on the land can be located and plotted. A setback violation may be revealed if a structure is shown inside a required setback area. A property line lawsuit, however, is a legal proceeding or claim, not something a survey itself physically discloses. It may be found through litigation records, title search, or other legal investigation. The Pennsylvania title outline tests surveys, boundary matters, title exceptions, liens, claims against title, and clearing-title concerns.

A state tax lien filed in the county where the taxpayer owns property operates as a lien against the taxpayer’s property in that county, not merely against one specifically described parcel or only when the property is sold. Tax liens are involuntary liens created to secure unpaid tax obligations and must be considered in title examination because they can affect sale, refinance, priority, and insurability. Pennsylvania tax lien rules provide that, upon entry of record by the prothonotary where the property is situated, the tax amount is a lien in favor of the Commonwealth against the taxpayer’s real property and certain personal property. The Pennsylvania title outline includes taxes and assessments, federal liens, judgments, and voluntary and involuntary liens.

A chain of title is the sequence of recorded conveyances showing how title passed from one owner to the next over time. It is not simply an attorney’s opinion, although an attorney or title examiner may review the chain and give conclusions about marketability. It is not merely a history of liens, because liens are encumbrances, not conveyances of ownership. It is also not the grantor/grantee index itself; the index is a search tool used to locate recorded instruments. In title insurance, establishing the chain of title is critical because gaps, incorrect names, missing deeds, probate issues, or defective conveyances may create title defects. Pennsylvania’s title outline expressly includes title searching techniques, chain sheets, hard-copy and computer indexes, and public-record conveyances.