Title Company = Not responsible for clearing title?

[Hannah Williams]

I purchased a home in a tax foreclosure a year and a half ago. I now have a sales contract on the table, and we are currently waiting on title work. I was just informed that there is an issue with title. I called the title company to see what I should do, and they said they are not responsible for clearing title. Um, isn't that what a title company DOES? Now, we're at a stand-still with this contract. I'm going to try to figure it out myself (I used to work at a title company), but the title company is telling me I need to hire an attorney. There's no money in the agreed sale price for that.

My real question is, isn't a title company responsible for clearing title?