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Skip Title insurance in PA

PennsylvaniaMechanics Lien

Hi, I am building a new home by a national builder in a subdivision in Pennsylvania. I will pay all cash, no mortgage to the house. I want also to skip homeowner's title insurance as builder has builder's title insurance already. There is only a small risk by doing so to skip costly owner title as there can be mechanic's lien to the property I am buying. In this case, by the law, how do I ask builder to make sure the property is NOT lienable in Pennsylvania ? Any other advise other than buying title insurance ? Thanks, Wei

1 reply

Oct 2, 2019
The best way to ensure that a property will not be subject to mechanics liens, moving forward, is to have a builder obtain and present mechanics lien waivers for everyone who's performed work on the job. If everyone on the job has provided a lien waiver that indicates they were paid in full, then none of them would be entitled to file a mechanics lien. More on waivers here: The Property Owner’s Guide to Lien Waivers. Further, a builder may also be open to executing a contract whereby they'll agree to indemnify, defend, and hold the purchaser harmless if a mechanics lien is ultimately filed. And, if a buyer can get a builder to promise that all payments have been properly made, and that the builder will be responsible if any mechanics lien claims are filed, then the potential for a mechanics lien filing should be much less frightening. As a final note - it's also worth mentioning that the deadline to file a Pennsylvania mechanics lien is 6 months from the last date during which the lien claimant furnished labor or materials. So, if everyone's work was completed more than 6 months ago, then the potential for a lien claim would diminish greatly. For more background on lien waivers, here are two additional resources: (1) Pennsylvania Lien Waivers Guide and FAQs (2) The Ultimate Guide to Lien Waivers in Construction (Meaning & Examples)
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