A title company searches the public records to confirm the seller owns the home free of undisclosed liens, insures the buyer and the lender against defects the search missed, and in most western states, Nevada included, also acts as the neutral escrow that holds the deposit, pays everyone at closing and records the transfer.
In Nevada the title company is the closing. There is no attorney at the table; the escrow officer at the title company collects the documents and the money, makes sure each side has done what the contract requires, and releases everything at once when they have. The title work underneath that is what the company is named for, and it is the part buyers understand least.
The title search and the commitment
The examiner traces the chain of ownership back through recorded deeds and pulls every recorded instrument against the property: deeds of trust, tax liens, HOA liens, judgments, easements, recorded covenants. The result is a preliminary title report (the commitment) listing what will have to be cleared before closing and what will remain as exceptions after it, such as utility easements and the HOA's covenants. Buyers should read the exceptions; they describe what you are buying subject to.
Clearing title means getting payoffs and releases for every lien that is not staying. An old deed of trust that was paid off but never reconveyed, a deceased owner without a probate, a contractor's lien: each is a delay the title company works, and each is why the contract's title contingency exists.
Title insurance
Two policies are issued at closing. The lender's policy protects the lender for the loan amount and is required by every mortgage. The owner's policy protects the buyer for the purchase price, for as long as they own the home, against defects the search did not find: a forged deed in the chain, an unrecorded heir, a boundary error, a lien indexed under a misspelled name. It is paid once, at closing (in Nevada customarily by the seller), and it is the reason a title problem discovered years later is the insurer's to fix rather than yours.
Escrow and closing
As escrow holder the company receives the earnest money, collects the seller's payoff statement and the HOA documents, prepares the settlement statement showing every dollar in and out, arranges the signing, receives the lender's funds, pays the seller's lender, the agents, the county and the seller, records the deed and the new deed of trust, and disburses the seller's proceeds. It is neutral by law: it follows the contract and the written instructions of both parties and takes no side when they disagree.
The buyer chooses the title company in most transactions (federal law forbids a seller from requiring a particular one as a condition of sale), and fees are comparable across companies. The escrow officer's responsiveness matters more than the fee.
Questions people ask
Do you need a title company to buy a house?
In Nevada and most western states, yes: the title company runs the closing and the lender requires its policy. In attorney-closing states a lawyer runs the closing and a title company or agent issues the insurance.
Who pays the title company?
Both sides. The escrow fee is customarily split, the buyer pays the lender's policy, and in Nevada the seller customarily pays the buyer's owner's policy. The premiums are set by filed rates and are similar between companies.
What is the difference between a title company and an escrow company?
In Nevada they are usually the same company doing two jobs: title examination and insurance on one side, neutral escrow on the other. In some states, California among them, independent escrow companies handle the closing and the title company issues only the insurance.