Senate Bill No. 22
(By Senator Foster)
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[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the Committee on Banking
and Insurance; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §33-11A-11 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to providing notice of
availability of owner's title insurance.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §33-11A-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11A. INSURANCE SALES CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT.
§33-11A-11. Insurance in connection with a loan.
(a) If insurance is required as a condition of obtaining a
loan, the credit and insurance transactions shall be completed
independently and through separate documents.
(b) A loan for premiums on required insurance shall not be
included in the primary credit without the written consent of the
customer.
(c) No title insurance shall be issued until the title insurance company has obtained a title opinion of an attorney
licensed to practice law in West Virginia, which attorney is not an
employee, agent, or owner of the insured bank or its affiliates.
Said attorney shall have conducted or cause to have conducted under
the attorney's direct supervision a reasonable examination of the
title. In no event shall the authority of a state-chartered bank
to sell title insurance exceed the authority of a nationally
chartered bank to do so.
(d) In connection with any transaction involving the purchase
or sale of an interest in residential real property in this state,
the settlement agent, before the disbursement of any funds, shall
obtain from the purchaser a statement in writing that he or she has
been notified by the settlement agent that the purchaser may wish
to obtain owner's title insurance coverage and of the general
nature of the coverage, and whether the purchaser desires the
coverage. The notification shall include language that the value
of subsequent improvements to the property may not be covered. The
failure of a settlement agent to provide the information requested
by this section does not create a cause of action that otherwise
would not exist.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide notification to
purchasers of residential real property that lender's title
insurance does not protect them, and that they have the right to
obtain coverage in a separate policy for their own protection.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.