What is a title search fee on a Loan Estimate?

Updated November 2026 · Every dollar figure is an illustrative example, not a quote

The title search or title examination fee pays someone to go through the public records and confirm the seller owns the home and what liens, easements and judgments are attached to it, and roughly $150 to $500 is common. It is a Section C service on the model form, so you can usually shop for it along with the rest of the title work.

Where it is on the form

Page 2, Section C, Services You Can Shop For, as Title – Title Search, sometimes Title – Examination Fee or Title – Abstract Fee. In a few states the search is folded into the title insurance premium and does not appear as its own line.

Illustrative rangeOften $150–$500

A simple search on a home with a clean recent chain of ownership is at the low end. Older properties, rural land described by metes and bounds, or a chain with estates and divorces in it take longer and cost more. Some states bundle the search into the premium so the line reads zero.

Paid toThe title company or a title abstractor or attorney it hires

Can you shop for it?Yes

Can it change at closing?10% tolerance: It can rise, but only 10% in total with the other fees in its group

What the search finds decides what the policy covers. The examiner reads deeds, mortgages, releases, tax records, court judgments and recorded easements, then issues a commitment listing what the policy will not cover (the 'exceptions') and what must be cleared before closing (the 'requirements'). Read the commitment; a surprise easement across the back yard is better found now than after closing.

The search is also where the seller's old mortgage is found so it can be paid off at closing, and where an unreleased lien from a loan the seller paid years ago turns up and has to be chased down. That chase can delay closing, and a delay can cost you a rate lock extension.

Can you shop for it?

Usually, yes, as part of choosing the title company; the search and the policy come from the same place. Use a company from the lender's written list and the fee stays in the 10% tolerance group; bring your own and there is no limit on it.

Can it change between the Loan Estimate and closing?

In the 10% group if you chose a provider from the lender's list; no limit if you brought your own; zero tolerance if the lender placed it in Section B because it did not let you shop.

Questions to ask the lender

When will I see the title commitment, and will you walk me through the exceptions?
Is the search fee included in the title premium, or separate?
Does the title company have a fee sheet I can compare with another company's?

Red flags

A title search fee and an examination fee and an abstract fee all on one estimate for one search.
A commitment that arrives days before closing with no time to read the exceptions.
A search fee in Section B from an affiliate of the lender at a price above a competing title company's.

Questions people ask

Is a title search required?

Effectively yes: no title insurer will issue a policy without one, and no lender will fund without the policy. On a refinance the search is shorter because only the years since your purchase need checking.

What is the difference between a title search and title insurance?

The search is the work of reading the records; the insurance is the policy that pays if the search missed something. You pay for both. The search fee is small; the policy premium is the larger line.

Can a title search delay closing?

Yes, when it finds a problem: an old lien never released, a gap in the chain of ownership, an estate that was never settled. Clearing it can take days or weeks. That is a reason to lock the rate with room to spare.

Only have one quote? That's the problem.

Tell us the rate and the fees you were quoted. It is free, there is no credit pull, and nobody calls you. We check whether another lender beats it, fees included. Or start with the free Loan Estimate checker, which reads your rate, points and Section A and flags anything out of the ordinary.

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Every dollar figure on this page is illustrative. Fee ranges are general observations, not a survey or a quote, and are not a loan offer, approval, commitment to lend, or Loan Estimate. Your actual rates and fees depend on qualification with lenders, your state and county, and your closing date. The tolerance rules described are the federal TRID rules in general terms; the rule itself and your own Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure decide how it applies to your loan. comparemyloan does not negotiate with lenders, lock rates, or take loan applications.