(A) Every title insurance agent shall keep books of account and record and vouchers pertaining to the business of title insurance in such manner that the title insurance company may readily ascertain from time to time whether the agent has complied with this chapter.

Terms Used In Ohio Code 3953.23

  • business of title insurance: means the following:

    (1) The making as insurer, guarantor, or surety, or proposing to make as insurer, guarantor, or surety, any contract or policy of title insurance;

    (2) The transacting, or proposing to transact, any phase of title insurance, including solicitation, negotiation preliminary to execution, execution of a contract of title insurance, insuring, and transacting matters subsequent to the execution of the contract and arising out of it, including reinsurance;

    (3) The doing or proposing to do any business in substance equivalent to any of the foregoing. See Ohio Code 3953.01

  • Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • Title insurance: means insuring, guaranteeing, or indemnifying owners of real property or others interested in real property against loss or damage suffered by reason of liens or encumbrances upon, defect in, or the unmarketability of the title to the real property, guaranteeing, warranting, or otherwise insuring by a title insurance company the correctness of searches relating to the title to real property, or doing any business in substance equivalent to any of the foregoing. See Ohio Code 3953.01
  • Title insurance agent: means a person, partnership, or corporation authorized in writing by a title insurance company to solicit insurance and collect premiums and to issue or countersign policies on its behalf. See Ohio Code 3953.01
  • Title insurance company: means any of the following:

    (1) Any domestic title guaranty company and domestic title guarantee and trust company to the extent that they are engaged in the business of title insurance;

    (2) Any domestic company organized under this chapter for the purpose of insuring titles to real property;

    (3) Any title insurance company organized under the laws of another state or foreign government;

    (4) Any domestic or foreign company that has the powers and is authorized to insure titles to real estate within this state on December 12, 1967, and that meets the requirements of this chapter. See Ohio Code 3953.01

(B) A title insurance agent may engage in the business of handling escrows of real property transactions provided that the agent shall maintain a separate record of all receipts and disbursements of escrow funds and shall not commingle any such funds with the agent’s own funds or with funds held by the agent in any other capacity; and if at any time the superintendent of insurance determines that an agent has failed to comply with any of the provisions of this section, the superintendent may revoke the license of the agent pursuant to section 3905.14 of the Revised Code, subject to review as provided for in Chapter 119 of the Revised Code.

(C) All title insurance agents or agencies that handle escrows in real property transactions not involving the issuance of title insurance shall have coverage that protects the parties to such transactions against theft, misappropriation, fraud, or any other failure to properly disburse settlement, closing, or escrow funds. The superintendent shall adopt rules under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code setting forth the minimum requirements for such coverage, including, but not limited to, the minimum amounts, terms, and conditions of such coverage.

(D) The superintendent shall require every title insurance agent or agency and any subcontractors to maintain an errors and omissions policy, in any amount exceeding minimum limits established by the superintendent, that includes but is not limited to coverage for the agent’s or agency’s delegation of any agent or agency function. The superintendent shall adopt rules under Chapter 119 of the Revised Code setting forth the minimum requirements for that coverage, including but not limited to the minimum amounts, terms, and conditions of the coverage.

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