A title company is a business that provides the service of authenticating titles to real property. This service involves conducting an extensive search of property records and other legal documents in order to verify who the true owner of the property is. This can help to prevent property ownership disputes and ensure that a party who purchases the property will in fact be the true owner. Title companies also provide title insurance.
An example of a situation where property ownership may be disputed is if someone has leased the mining rights to a 100-acre plot of land that he/she is now trying to sell. A prospective owner may not be aware that the mining rights have been leased, and he or she may want to buy the property with the intention to develop houses on it. This could result in a conflict about who gets to use the land. A title company's job is to make sure that there are no extenuating circumstances like this before a party buys a piece of real property.