History Title Insurance

R E S I D E N T I A L
Purchase a home, improvements that increase the value of the property, easements or any type of estate transaction are all reasons to purchase title insurance.
A G R I C U L T U R A L
South Dakota farms and ranches are the heart of the states' economy.

Dakota Homestead Title Insurance can insure your substantial investment in South Dakota land from attacks against the title.
C O M M E R C I A L
The purchase of the lease of any type of commercial property needs to have a title insurance policy protecting the title to the property.
S O U T H D A K O T A
South Dakota became a state of the Federal Union on November 2nd 1889.

Dakota Homestead Title Insurance Company works with the county land title offices across South Dakota to verify and insure clear title to land and real property. Protecting our policy owners interests against loss due to title defects, liens or encumbrances.
B U F F A L O
Like the American bison who played an essential role in shaping the ecology of the Great Plains, Dakota Homestead plays an essential role in insuring clear title to South Dakota real property.
S E T T L E R H O M E
Early settlers and others made written claims to the government for lands. Land could be obtained through cash payment or after 1862 by homesteading. County Land Title Agencies research the past back to the original patent.
L A N D O F F I C E
The first Dakota land offices were in Sioux Falls 1856 , Yankton 1859 and Vermillion 1861.

When a settler had completed the requirements for land entry, his case file was sent to the General Land Office in Washington, DC, where a patent (first-title deed) was issued. Those claims frequently included statements by relatives, heirs, neighbors, or friends describing the land, landowner and improvements. The local land offices then recorded transactions for each section of land in tract books.
T I T L E

Dakota Homestead Title Insurance Company is South Dakota's only domestic title insurance underwriter.

D a k o t a H o m e s t e a d T i t l e I n s u r a n c e C o m p a n y

HISTORY OF TITLE INSURANCE

Prior to the invention of title insurance, buyers in real estate bore sole responsibility for ensuring the validity of the land title held by the seller. If the title were later deemed invalid or found to be fraudulent, the buyer lost his investment.

In 1868, the case of Watson v. Muirhead was heard by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Plaintiff Watson had lost his investment in a real estate transaction as the result of a prior lien on the property. Defendant Muirhead, the conveyancer, had discovered the lien prior to the sale but told Watson the title was clear after his lawyer had erroneously determined that the lien was not valid.

The courts ruled that Muirhead, and others in similar situations, were not liable for mistakes based on professional opinions. As a result, in 1874, the Pennsylvania legislature passed an act allowing for the incorporation of title insurance companies.

Joshua Morris, a conveyancer in Philadelphia, and several colleagues met on March 28, 1876 to incorporate the first title insurance company. The new firm, Real Estate Title Insurance Company of Philadelphia, would insure the purchasers of real estate and mortgages against losses from defective titles, liens and encumbrances, and that through these facilities, transfer of real estate and real estate securities can be made more speedily and with greater security.

The first South Dakota title insurance policy was sold in 1954 by Land Title Guarantee. The Sioux Falls based Land Title Guarantee was started by Ernie Carlson and is still in business today.

The first and only title underwriter domiciled in South Dakota incorporated in 1993 in Sioux Falls. Dakota Homestead was started by Mark Meierhenry, Todd Meierhenry and David Dyke. Dakota Homestead is 1 of only 47 title underwriters currently operating in the United States.

There are abstract companies in South Dakota that date back into the 1800's. These abstract companies performed some of the same services as performed today by the current land title agencies. In fact most of these abstract companies would now be classified as land title agencies. That's because currently most transactions in South Dakota utilize title insurance with very few abstracts being completed or updated.