§ 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.