Dunwoody, Georgia – First American insured a first mortgage against this home for $500,000. The house sits on a secluded hill connected to the nearest road by a private driveway meandering around a wooded ravine. After a default and foreclosure the insured lender was contacted by a neighbor complaining about traffic on the private driveway which, he pointed out, crosses over his land. He demanded that "trespassing" be stopped.

Landlocked: When the lender foreclosed it got a nasty surprise.

It seems that when the home was built there was no legal right obtained for the foreclosed-out borrowers to cross the neighbor's property. But since the borrowers and their neighbor were friendly this presented no problem until the lender foreclosed.

The lender had a buyer and was anxious to close. Notwithstanding our belief that an easement could be enforced by court action, First American gave the neighbor $15,000 to perfect the right of access.

The standard policy of title insurance includes coverage for a right of access. This is important since many properties, even today, lack a legal right of access.

Attorney opinions do not deal with access unless the issue is expressly addressed, nor do other forms of title assurance provide this coverage.