Title Insurance Or Real Property Report: A Purchaser's Dilemma

The standard real estate purchase contract in Alberta requires a seller to provide the buyer with a Real Property Report ("RPR") along with evidence of municipal compliance (or non-conformance).

In recent years, many sellers have chosen to offer to provide the buyer with a policy of title insurance instead of providing an RPR with compliance (which is often a more costly process for the seller).

This article explains, at a high level, what title insurance provides and compares this form of insurance with what information a buyer would obtain by insisting on obtaining an RPR and compliance stamp.

A. Title Insurance

As its name suggests, title insurance is a form of insurance policy. Like other kinds of insurance, title insurance provides reimbursement if the insured suffers a loss which falls within the covered losses set out in the policy.