A title commitment is a title insurance company’s conditional promise to issue a policy once specific requirements are met. It is not the final policy. Think of it as the closing roadmap: every lien to clear, every exception to weigh, and every deadline to honor appears here before a single dollar changes hands. As a formal, preliminary document, it outlines the exact terms under which the insurer will extend coverage — and understanding it gives both buyers and lenders a decisive advantage at the table.
When you receive your commitment, take these three steps immediately:
- Read Schedule B-I (Requirements) to identify every item that must be cleared before the policy issues — payoffs, releases, affidavits, and tax clearances.
- Flag Schedule B-II (Exceptions) for any items you want removed or endorsed around before closing, because unaddressed exceptions become permanent exclusions in the final policy.
- Confirm the effective date and your objection deadline so you know exactly how much time you have to raise concerns without losing your rights.
Both buyers and lenders receive commitments. The lender’s policy protects the mortgage; the owner’s policy protects your equity. The commitment document sets the agenda for both.
Key Takeaways
A title commitment is a conditional promise to insure, not the final policy, and every field in Schedule A and every item in Schedule B must be reviewed before your objection deadline expires.
| Point | Details |
|---|---|
| Commitment vs. policy | The commitment is a conditional promise; the final owner’s or lender’s policy issues only after all requirements are cleared. |
| Schedule A first | Verify the effective date, proposed insured, policy amount, and legal description against your contract before anything else. |
| Clear Schedule B-I | Every requirement — payoffs, releases, affidavits, tax clearances — must be resolved and documented before the policy issues. |
| Review Schedule B-II carefully | Standard exceptions are often unavoidable; special exceptions tied to recorded matters can sometimes be removed or endorsed before closing. |
| Watch the objection deadline | Most contracts allow only 5–15 days to raise title objections; missing that window can waive your right to negotiate a cure. |
Table of Contents
- How is a title commitment organized?
- What does Schedule A tell you, and what should you verify?
- What are Schedule B-I requirements, and how do you clear them?
- Which Schedule B-II exceptions can be removed, and which are permanent?
- What do the Conditions section and the ALTA form mean for your coverage?
- What happens after you receive the commitment?
- Red flags to watch for and questions to ask your title company
- A Houston agent’s perspective on title commitments
- Sources
How is a title commitment organized?
Understanding the structure is the fastest way to read any commitment with confidence. Most follow the ALTA standard form, dividing the document into three distinct parts.
| Section | What it contains | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule A | Transaction facts: effective date, proposed insured, policy type, policy amount, current record owner, legal description | Verify these fields first — errors here can delay closing |
| Schedule B-I (Requirements) | Items that must be satisfied before the policy issues: payoffs, recordings, affidavits, tax clearances | These are your action items; each one must be resolved |
| Schedule B-II (Exceptions) | Matters the policy will not cover unless removed: easements, covenants, survey matters | Review carefully — some are negotiable, some are permanent |
| Conditions / Definitions | Liability limits, expiration terms, claims procedures, and policy definitions | Governs how and when coverage applies |
The field map is straightforward once you know where to look. The effective date appears at the top of Schedule A. The proposed insured (your name or your lender’s name) sits just below it. The policy amount reflects the purchase price or loan amount. The current record owner confirms who legally holds title today, and the legal description identifies the exact parcel being conveyed.
What does Schedule A tell you, and what should you verify?
Schedule A is the transaction’s identity card. Every field should match your purchase contract precisely, and a mismatch — however small — warrants a call to your title officer before closing day.
Key fields to verify on receipt:
- Effective date: The date through which the title search was run. Any instrument recorded after this date falls into the “gap” and may not be covered without a gap endorsement.
- Proposed insured: Your legal name, spelled exactly as it will appear on the deed. A misspelled name or wrong vesting entity (individual vs. LLC, for example) requires a corrected commitment before closing.
- Type of policy: Owner’s policy, lender’s policy, or both. Confirm this matches your transaction structure.
- Policy amount: Should equal the purchase price for an owner’s policy and the loan amount for a lender’s policy.
- Current record owner: Must match the seller named in your contract. A discrepancy here can signal a chain-of-title gap or an undisclosed ownership interest.
- Legal description: Compare this word-for-word against the deed and survey. An outdated metes-and-bounds description or a wrong lot number is a fixable error — but only if caught early.
Small typos in names or addresses are common and usually corrected with a simple written request to the title company. A wrong vesting entity or a legal description that doesn’t match the survey, however, may require a warranty deed review or a corrective instrument before the title company will proceed.
What are Schedule B-I requirements, and how do you clear them?
Schedule B-I lists every condition the title company requires before it will issue the policy. These are not suggestions. Each item must be resolved — documented, recorded, or paid — before the commitment converts to a final policy.
Typical Schedule B-I items include:
- Mortgage payoffs and lien releases: The seller’s existing mortgage must be paid in full at closing, and the lender must record a release of lien. The title company orders a payoff statement directly from the lender.
- Tax and HOA clearances: Outstanding property taxes and any delinquent HOA dues must be paid. The title company pulls a tax certificate and requests an HOA ledger.
- Recorded instruments: Certain documents — a corrective deed, a boundary-line agreement, a mechanic’s lien release — must be recorded in the county records before the policy issues.
- Affidavits: The seller may be required to sign an affidavit of heirship, a gap indemnity, or a no-new-liens affidavit to address specific title concerns.
- Probate documents: If the seller inherited the property, court-issued probate instruments may need to be recorded to establish a clean chain of title.
The process flows through closing. Funds collected at settlement pay off liens; the title company coordinates with lenders to confirm payoff receipt; releases are recorded (or held in escrow pending recording). For Houston transactions, common cures include recorded payoffs, corrected instruments, affidavits, and, where necessary, quiet title actions.
Pro Tip: Payoff release recording is the most common timing trap in Texas closings. A lender may take 15–30 days to record a release after receiving payoff funds. Request that your title company obtain a “payoff with release” confirmation letter and, if needed, use a recorded-release holdback or indemnity agreement so closing is not delayed while waiting for the county clerk to post the instrument.
Which Schedule B-II exceptions can be removed, and which are permanent?
Exceptions in Schedule B-II are the matters the policy will not cover. Some are standard and unavoidable; others are tied to specific recorded instruments and can sometimes be negotiated away before closing.
Standard exceptions appear in nearly every commitment and are rarely removable without specific action:
- Survey matters and rights of parties in possession: Covers boundary encroachments, overlaps, and unrecorded easements visible on a survey. A current survey and an ALTA survey endorsement can often eliminate this exception.
- Unrecorded mechanic’s liens: Protects the insurer against liens for work done but not yet filed. A no-new-liens affidavit from the seller and a gap indemnity can address this.
- Taxes for the current year not yet due and payable: Standard in every Texas commitment; the policy will not cover unpaid taxes for the current period.
Special exceptions are property-specific and tied to recorded instruments:
- Recorded easements (utility, drainage, access): Usually permanent. The easement exists in the public record and the policy simply won’t cover claims arising from it. Buyers should review the easement document to understand its scope.
- Deed restrictions and HOA covenants: Permanent unless formally released by the governing body. Buyers should read these before closing, not after.
- Mineral reservations: If a prior owner reserved oil, gas, or mineral rights, that reservation is typically a permanent exception. A mineral endorsement may provide limited protection.
Exceptions that affect property use or value — a right-of-way that bisects the lot, deed restrictions that limit commercial use — deserve the most scrutiny. If an exception is not addressed before closing, it becomes a permanent exclusion in the final policy.
What do the Conditions section and the ALTA form mean for your coverage?
The Conditions section governs the commitment’s mechanics: how long it remains valid, what triggers an update, and how claims are handled once the policy issues. Most commitments follow the ALTA standard form, which includes a default expiration reference — typically six months from the effective date — after which the commitment may need to be reissued if closing has not occurred.
Some states, including Texas, use state-specific commitment forms or formatting variants rather than the pure ALTA template. Texas uses the Texas Department of Insurance-promulgated form, which carries its own defined conditions and exception language. The substance is similar, but the precise wording differs — a detail that matters when you are reading the fine print on liability limits or claims procedures.
When conditions contain ambiguous language — an unusual endorsement, a complex legal cloud, or a liability cap that seems inconsistent with the transaction — consult a real estate attorney before closing. The Conditions section is not boilerplate to skip.
What happens after you receive the commitment?
Timing governs everything between commitment issuance and policy delivery. A clear sequence keeps the closing on track.
- Review the effective date immediately. The title search runs through this date. Any instrument recorded after it — a new lien, a lis pendens, a deed — may not be covered without a gap endorsement or a reissued commitment.
- Note your objection deadline. Most purchase contracts give buyers a defined period (often 5–15 days) to raise title objections. Missing this window can waive your right to object.
- Monitor for amendments. If new matters are recorded between commitment and closing — a judgment lien, a mechanic’s lien, a corrective deed — the title company will issue an amended commitment. Review every amendment with the same care as the original.
- Request a pro-forma or marked commitment if you need specific endorsements. Advanced buyers and investors use marked commitments to confirm that negotiated endorsements — survey coverage, mineral rights, zoning — are locked in before the final policy issues.
- Confirm who pays what. Buyers generally do not pay a separate fee for the commitment document itself. The title insurance premium is paid at closing, bundled into closing costs. In Texas, the owner’s policy premium is often a seller-paid cost by local custom, while the lender’s policy is typically a buyer expense required by the mortgage lender. Confirm the allocation in your contract.
- Understand the gap period. The window between the commitment’s effective date and the deed recording is a vulnerability. New claims filed in that gap can affect insurability unless covered by a gap endorsement or a reissued commitment dated through recording.
Red flags to watch for and questions to ask your title company
Certain patterns in a commitment signal deeper problems that deserve immediate escalation. Recognizing them early — before the scheduled closing date — preserves your options.
Red flags that warrant closer review:
- Unknown heirs or missing probate documents in the chain of title
- Unreleased liens from prior mortgages, judgments, or mechanic’s claims
- Forged, altered, or inconsistent deeds in the ownership history
- Boundary disputes or survey discrepancies that don’t match the legal description
- A lis pendens (notice of pending litigation) recorded against the property
- Mineral reservations or surface use agreements not disclosed in the contract
- HOA covenants with restrictions that conflict with the buyer’s intended use
Questions to send directly to your title company:
- “Which Schedule B-I items will remain open at closing, and how will each one be cured?”
- “Are any exceptions in Schedule B-II negotiable or removable before the policy issues?”
- “Has a gap endorsement been included to cover the period between the effective date and recording?”
- “Is there a lis pendens, judgment lien, or pending probate matter affecting this property?”
- “What endorsements are available to address the survey exception, and what is the cost?”
- “If closing is delayed past the commitment’s expiration, will you reissue at no additional charge?”
Pro Tip: In Houston transactions, match every Schedule B-I requirement to its corresponding Harris County recorded instrument number early in the process. Local closers build a file checklist keyed to each instrument — deed, release, affidavit — so approvals move faster and nothing falls through the gap. If a recorded instrument can’t be located in the Harris County Appraisal District or clerk’s records, flag it immediately; a quiet title action or corrective recording may be needed before the policy can issue.
For buyers purchasing a property they will not immediately occupy, a home watch service can also help monitor the property during the gap period between commitment and closing.
A Houston agent’s perspective on title commitments
Every week, I see buyers receive a title commitment and set it aside, assuming the title company will handle everything. Most of the time, that trust is warranted. But the transactions that go sideways — a missed objection deadline, an unaddressed mineral reservation, a payoff release that didn’t record in time — almost always trace back to a commitment that nobody read carefully.
With many years of experience in Houston real estate, the pattern often seen is buyers who focus on Schedule A (the easy part) and skip Schedule B-II entirely. Those exceptions are where the real story lives. A utility easement running through the backyard, a deed restriction that limits a home office, an HOA covenant with teeth — none of these will be covered by your owner’s policy unless you address them before closing. The commitment gives you the window to act. Use it.
If you receive a commitment and something doesn’t look right, reach out before the objection deadline expires. The Newhomeshoustontexas team works closely with title officers across Houston and can help you read through the document, identify what needs attention, and connect you with the right professionals to resolve it efficiently.
Sources
- Title Commitment: How to Read It vs. Title Policy
- Understanding your title commitment | First American
- Understanding title commitments
This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified lawyer. Consult a qualified legal professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.