Am I obligated to buy Owner's Title Insurance in WA

[Andrew Kniffin]

Hello all-

I am buying a personal residence in Seattle, Washington this week. I received my HUD form on Friday.

The HUD defaulted to include a ~$1,940 Owner's Title Insurance policy. I told my agent that I would rather NOT pay that amount, and instead keep the funds as cash. (Basically a 'self-insurance' strategy.)

My RE Agent said that WA law **requires** that I get the policy, and so I am not allowed to keep the cash.  

Can anyone help me find out whether this is true?  My Agent seems educated on the market, but she also sounded as though she'd never run across this before.  

Thanks for your input.  

-Drew

[Lynn McGeein]

If I remember correctly from our Vancouver, WA, home purchase (don't have my settlement statement in front of me), the seller pays there for the owner's title policy in WA.   So are they asking you to pay the $1940 and you would rather keep the money and have no owner's title?  Or is the seller paying the $1940, but you're asking that instead it be paid in cash to you rather than the title insurance company?  If the seller is paying for it, I'm not sure they would be obligated to pay you cash instead if you choose to deny the coverage.