H. B. 3029


(By Delegate Brown (By Request))
[Introduced March 10, 2009; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance then the Judiciary.]




A BILL to amend and reenact §33-11A-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to insurance; and requiring a notice of availability of owner's title insurance in connection with a loan.

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 may not be included in the primary credit without the written consent of the customer.
(c) No title Title insurance shall may not 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 may the authority of a state-chartered bank to sell title insurance exceed the authority of a nationally chartered bank to do so.
(d) A settlement agent, before the disbursement of any funds in connection with any transaction involving the purchase or sale of an interest in residential real property in this state, shall obtain from the purchaser a statement in writing that: (1) The purchaser has been notified by the settlement agent that the purchaser may wish to obtain owner's title insurance coverage; (2) the general nature of the coverage; and (3) that the purchaser does or does not desire the coverage. The notification shall include language that the value of subsequent improvements to the property may not be covered.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require a notice of availability of owner's title insurance in connection with a loan.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.