History South Dakota 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 LAND TITLE IN SOUTH DAKOTA

DAKOTA TERRITORY AND SOUTH DAKOTA

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 insurance underwriters operating in the United States.

County Abstract Agencies in South Dakota date back to the 1800's, when South Dakota was still part of the Dakota Territory. These abstract companies performed some of the same services as performed today by the current County Land Title Agencies. In fact most of these abstract companies would now be classified as land title agencies. That's because currently most land title transactions in South Dakota utilize title insurance, with very few abstracts being completed or updated.