Title Insurance Company Insures Only Whether a Property Has Legal Access to a Street, Not Whether Physical Access to the Street Is Possible

The Second Department determined that the action against a title insurance company was properly dismissed.  The insured property abutted a street.  However, a retaining wall on the property blocked access to the street.  When a problem developed with respect to removing the retaining wall, the property owners sued the title insurance company.  The Second Department held that the title insurance company was only obligated to determine whether the property had  “legal access” to a street, not “physical access:”

The title insurance policies … insure against “[l]ack of a right of access to and from the land.” “[S]uch a provision refers to the absence of a legal right to access and does not cover claims concerning lack of an existing means of physical access” … . On its motion for summary judgment, Stewart established that [plaintiffs] have a legal right of access because the subject property abuts a public street … . 43 Park Owners Group LLC v Commonwealth Land Tit Ins Co, 2014 NY Slip Op 07120, 2nd Dept 10-22-14