Title issues are rarely given much consideration by home buyers and sellers. Most buyers don't even know what title issues they should be concerned with. Sellers usually assume that there won't be any title problems affecting their property. However, unanticipated problem title issues can arise, often with unpleasant consequences.

Recently, Oakland, Calif., homeowners were in for a big surprise. They negotiated a home sale and soon after discovered that their neighbor's mortgages appeared on the title report on their own property.  more...

DEAR BOB: About 10 years ago, my wife and I bought a beach house thinking we would use it for vacations and weekends. But our children had other plans for us, as they didn't like the cottage because it is rather "cozy" (i.e. small). So we rarely used it. For the last eight years, we rented it to a widow who recently died. When we looked into selling it, several local Realtors informed us it is now worth about $600,000 more than we paid. Our CPA says this will be a taxable capital gain if we sell.  more...