84R5358 PMO-F
By: Pickett H.B. No. 2491
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to licensing and appointment of title insurance escrow
officers; changing the limit applicable to a fee; authorizing a
fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 2652.001, 2652.002, and 2652.006,
Insurance Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2652.001. LICENSE AND BOND OR DEPOSIT REQUIRED. An
individual may not act as an escrow officer unless the individual:
(1) holds a license issued by the department; [and]
(2) is covered by [maintains] a surety bond or deposit
required under Subchapter C; and
(3) is appointed under Section 2652.1511 as an escrow
officer by a title insurance agent or direct operation.
Sec. 2652.002. EMPLOYMENT OF ESCROW OFFICER. (a) A title
insurance agent or direct operation may not employ an individual as
an escrow officer unless the individual:
(1) holds a license issued by the department;
(2) is covered by [and maintains] a surety bond or
deposit as required under Subchapter C; and
(3) is appointed under Section 2652.1511 as an escrow
officer by the title insurance agent or direct operation [by this
chapter].
(b) A title insurance agent or direct operation may not
permit an individual to act as an escrow officer in this state
before the agent or direct operation has complied with Sections
2652.151 and 2652.1511 [2652.152] with respect to the individual.
Sec. 2652.006. RECORD OF ESCROW OFFICERS. The department
shall maintain a record of the name and address of each escrow
officer licensed by the department in a manner that ensures that the
escrow officers employed and appointed under Section 2652.1511 by
any title insurance agent or direct operation in this state may be
conveniently determined.
SECTION 2. Section 2652.051(a), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Before an initial license is issued to an individual to
act as an escrow officer in this state for a title insurance agent
or direct operation, the title insurance agent or direct operation
must file an application for an escrow officer's license and
appointment under Section 2652.1511 with the department on forms
provided by the department.
SECTION 3. Section 2652.052(b), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) License fees, appointment fees, and renewal fees
collected under this chapter [Section 2652.152], shall be deposited
to the credit of the Texas Department of Insurance operating
account to be used by the department to enforce this chapter and any
other law of this state that regulates escrow officers for title
insurance agents or direct operations.
SECTION 4. Sections 2652.055 and 2652.056, Insurance Code,
are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2652.055. LICENSE TERM. Unless a system of staggered
license renewal is adopted or required under Chapter 4003 [under
Section 4003.002], a license expires on the second June 1 following
the date of issuance.
Sec. 2652.056. PROCEDURE FOR LICENSE RENEWAL. An
individual may renew an unexpired escrow officer license by:
(1) submitting to the department on a form provided by
the department a completed application, signed and sworn by the
individual, stating that the applicant is an individual who is a
bona fide resident of this state or a state adjacent to this state;
and
(2) paying to the department a renewal fee in an amount
set by the department [AUTOMATIC TERMINATION OF LICENSE. The
license of each escrow officer employed by a title insurance agent
or direct operation that surrenders its license or has its license
revoked by the department is automatically terminated without
notice].
SECTION 5. Section 2652.101(a), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A title insurance agent or direct operation shall
obtain, at its own expense, a bond for its escrow officers appointed
under Section 2652.1511 payable to the department. The bond shall
obligate the principal and surety to pay for any pecuniary loss
sustained by the title insurance agent or direct operation through
an act of fraud, dishonesty, forgery, theft, embezzlement, or
wilful misapplication by an escrow officer, either directly and
alone or in conspiracy with another person.
SECTION 6. Section 2652.151(a), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A title insurance agent or direct operation shall
certify to the department, not later than the expiration date of the
title insurance agent's or direct operation's license, the name and
address of each individual employed and appointed under Section
2652.1511 by the title insurance agent or direct operation to serve
as an escrow officer in this state.
SECTION 7. Subchapter D, Chapter 2652, Insurance Code, is
amended by adding Section 2652.1511 to read as follows:
Sec. 2652.1511. APPOINTMENT OF ESCROW OFFICER. (a) An
escrow officer may be employed and appointed by more than one title
insurance agent or direct operation.
(b) Before an escrow officer may act in that capacity for a
title insurance agent or direct operation, the title insurance
agent or direct operation must appoint the escrow officer and file
the escrow officer's appointment with the department on a form
provided by the department.
(c) The appointment form must:
(1) be accompanied by a nonrefundable appointment fee;
(2) certify that the escrow officer is a bona fide
employee of a title insurance agent or direct operation with an
office in this state;
(3) be signed and sworn to by the title insurance agent
or direct operation and by the escrow officer; and
(4) demonstrate that the escrow officer is covered by
a surety bond or deposit required under Subchapter C.
(d) The appointment of the escrow officer expires on the
revocation, termination, or nonrenewal of the escrow officer's
license or termination of the escrow officer's employment with the
title insurance agent or direct operation that made the
appointment.
SECTION 8. Section 2652.153, Insurance Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2652.153. NOTICE OF TERMINATION. A title insurance
agent or direct operation that terminates the employment of a
licensed escrow officer shall:
(1) immediately notify the department in writing of
the termination and request cancellation of the appointment under
Section 2652.1511 [license]; and
(2) notify the escrow officer of the action by the
title insurance agent or direct operation.
SECTION 9. Sections 2652.203(a) and (d), Insurance Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The department shall notify a license holder of a
disciplinary action or enforcement action against the license
holder not later than the 30th business day after the date the
department assigns a file number to the action, except that this
subsection does not apply to a file or action:
(1) that is the subject of a pending criminal
investigation or prosecution; or
(2) about which the [deputy commissioner of the title
division of the] department makes a good faith determination that
there is a credible suspicion that there are ongoing or continuing
acts of fraud by a person who is the subject of the action.
(d) The department may provide information about an
enforcement action, including a copy of a notice issued under this
section, to each title insurance agent or direct operation with
which an escrow officer has, or proposes to obtain, an appointment
under Section 2652.1511 [employment].
SECTION 10. Sections 2652.057(b) and 2652.152, Insurance
Code, are repealed.
SECTION 11. The changes in law made by this Act apply only
to the issuance or renewal of the license of an escrow officer on or
after January 1, 2016. The issuance or renewal of a license before
January 1, 2016, is governed by the law as it existed immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.