Insurance Issues — The "CLUE" Report. The transfer of real estate is already one of the most regulated procedures in the world, but recently a new issue has emerged. The focus de jour is the ability of a buyer to secure homeowner’s insurance on the property that they are purchasing “at a reasonable rate and with reasonable terms.” This has suddenly become a major concern because of recent changes in the way the insurance industry prices its products and provides coverage. Some insurance companies, having been stung by large claims for mold related issues, have adopted policies of simply not insuring properties that have had “non-weather-related water damage claims” in the last several years. This has left some homes virtually “blacklisted” and almost uninsurable. The best approach for dealing with the problem seems to be to have both buyers and sellers obtain either a CLUE (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) report or an alternative personal insurance history from their insurers as early as possible in the process. The CLUE report is the way that approximately 90% of the insurance industry tracks the claim history on a specific property as well as their experience with their individual clients. As you might expect, the seller’s report would be likely to reveal any significant problems with the subject property and the Buyer’s version might indicate whether they have a tendency to make frequent or frivolous claims. Needless to say, a negative disclosure on either of these reports could affect the price and terms, or even the willingness of an insurer to extend coverage. In general, insurers will provide reports to their own clients free of charge but they can also be obtained online from a company called ChoicePoint @ http://www.choicetrust.com/.