Ohio Code 3953.32 – Offer of closing or settlement protection to parties
(A) At the time an order is placed with a title insurance company for issuance of a title insurance policy, the title insurance company or the title insurance agent shall offer closing or settlement protection to the lender, borrower, and seller of the property, and to any applicant for title insurance.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3953.32
- 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.
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- 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) The closing or settlement protection offered pursuant to this section shall indemnify any lender, borrower, seller, and applicant that has requested the protection, both individually and collectively, against the loss of settlement funds resulting from any of the following acts of the title insurance company’s named title insurance agent or anyone acting on the agent’s behalf:
(1) Theft, misappropriation, fraud, or any other failure to properly disburse settlement, closing, or escrow funds;
(2) Failure to comply with any applicable written closing instructions, when agreed to by the title insurance agent.
(C) The issuance of closing or settlement protection by a title insurance company pursuant to division (A) of this section is part of the business of title insurance for purposes of Chapter 3953 of the Revised Code.
(D) Except as provided in division (A) of this section, a title insurance company shall not offer or issue any coverage purporting to indemnify against a person‘s improper acts or omissions in connection with escrow, settlement, or closing services.
(E) The superintendent of insurance may adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code as the superintendent considers necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, including, but not limited to, rules that detail the specific language that must be included in the written document offering closing or settlement protection as provided for in division (A) of this section.