2023 New York Laws › ISC - Insurance › Article 21 - Agents, Brokers, Adjusters, Consultants and Intermediaries › 2113 - Title Insurance Agent Commissions; Disclosure.

§  2113. Title insurance agent commissions; disclosure. (a) No insurer
doing business in this state,  and  no  agent  or  other  representative
thereof,  shall  pay any commission or other compensation to any person,
firm, association or corporation for acting as a title  insurance  agent
in this state, except to a licensed title insurance agent.
(b)  At  the  time  of  the application, a title insurance agent shall
provide to every applicant for insurance, a written good faith  estimate
of the premium on the policy or policies to be issued and a breakdown of
the  amount  of  all  fees and service costs, including all filing fees,
recording charges,  and  closing  costs,  and  any  other  ancillary  or
discretionary  charges  to be incurred, and the amount of any commission
or other compensation to be paid to such agent by  the  title  insurance
corporation.  If no title insurance agent is utilized, the title insurer
shall provide the disclosures. If the applicant  is  represented  by  an
attorney,  the  written  good  faith  estimate  shall be provided to the
attorney.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to or be  construed  in  a
manner  to authorize or permit any activity or practice, with respect to
the business of title insurance, that  is  prohibited  by  section  four
hundred eighty-four or four hundred ninety-five of the judiciary law, or
otherwise prohibited by law, including the unauthorized practice of law.
(d) Except as provided in subsection (f) of this section, no person or
entity  who  acts  as an agent, representative, attorney, or employee of
the owner, lessee, or mortgagee, or of the prospective owner, lessee, or
mortgagee of the real property or any interest therein and who or  whose
spouse  also  is  a  member,  employee, or director of a title insurance
agent, owns any interest in a title insurance agent, or is a  subsidiary
or  affiliate of any title insurance agent, shall refer an applicant for
insurance to such agent, and no such title insurance agent shall  accept
any  such  referral  of title insurance business, unless the referral is
made in accordance with section six thousand four hundred nine  of  this
chapter  and  such  person  or entity, at the time of making a referral,
provides,  at  a  minimum,  the  following  written  disclosure  to  the
applicant:
(1)  the  nature  of the relationship between the person or entity and
the title insurance agent;
(2) that the applicant is not required to  use  the  services  of  the
title  insurance  agent  or the title insurance corporation to which the
applicant is being referred;
(3) that any money or other thing of value directly or indirectly paid
by the title insurance agent  or  title  insurance  corporation  to  the
person  or  entity is based on the person or entity's financial interest
in the title insurance agent, and is not related to the amount of  title
insurance  business  the  person or entity refers to the title insurance
agent;
(4) that the person or entity is not required  to  refer  a  specified
amount of title insurance business to the title insurance agency;
(5)  the  amount  or value of any compensation or other thing of value
that the person or entity expects to  receive  in  connection  with  the
services  to  be  provided  by  the  title  insurance agent or the title
insurance corporation to which the party is being referred; and
(6) any relevant disclosures  required  by  the  federal  real  estate
settlement procedures act of 1974, as amended.
(e)  For  the  purposes of this chapter, an attorney or his or her law
firm may represent a client in a matter and may  also  act  as  a  title
insurance agent in such matter subject to applicable law.
(f) Where a licensed attorney represents an applicant in a real estate
transaction  and  the  applicant  also retains the attorney as the title

insurance agent, the attorney shall not be required to make the  written
disclosure  required  by  subsection  (d)  of  this section provided the
attorney advises the client that the client is not required to  use  the
attorney as the title insurance agent.
(g)  As  used  in  this  section,  "applicant" means the person, firm,
limited liability company or corporation for whom the  purchase  of  the
property  that  is the subject of the title insurance policy is financed
or to whom a mortgage loan is made or who owns the  property,  or  to  a
person who is an attorney-in-fact for such person.
(h)  The  superintendent  shall  promulgate regulations to enforce the
disclosure requirements of subdivision (d) of this section and in  doing
so  shall  consider  the  relevant  standards of the federal real estate
settlement procedures act of 1974, as amended.