Posted by Stephen_VA on 4/10/05 7:48am
Msg #30801

Title Insurance Agent in VA

Has anyone taken the tests, etc. to do this? If so, is the "appointment" to a company synonymous with being hired by them?

Reply by Traci/ MD on 4/10/05 9:28am
Msg #30805

No, Just a form of approval to sell their product. I no..... we do not sell the product but we do receive Money from the product being sold. The insurance commissioner will answer this question give them a call. They are the nuts who thought up this crazy stuff......

Reply by Stephen_VA on 4/10/05 1:53pm
Msg #30824

I was playing phone tag with the person I was referred to last week, so I figured that I would post here. Thanks for the response, that is what I suspected since they did not just say "employment".

Reply by Shannon/Va on 4/10/05 5:58pm
Msg #30839

Stephen, the underwriter test was a walk in the park. If you know anything about title searches (I have been doing them for 14 years) and know abou the documents it is really easy. I stressed about it. 100 questions and they give you 2 hours. It took me 42 minutes and I got a 93. I only got wrong the 5 genereal insurance questions and 2 others somewhere. THey don't tell you exactly which questions you get wrong, just how many in each area.
Then once you pass, you send $15 to the state police for a criminal background check. That takes 3 weeks. Then take the test pass sheet, the background check and send to the state corp comm for your license. Talkes 30-45 days. After you get that back, contact the insurance companies to get appointed.
Many won't appoint you unless you tell them you either are A)trying to get CRESPA certified to do closings or that B) you are working for or under another underwriter.
Once you get an appointment, take ALL your info and your e&o info and bond info and send $45 to the bar association for your CRESPA cert.
It sounds like alot but it wasn't so bad to do.

Reply by Clark on 4/10/05 7:37pm
Msg #30843

Shannon can you email me off the chat board. I have a few questions, I would like to ask. [e-mail address] Thank you

Reply by Reggie on 4/11/05 7:33am
Msg #30876

Do you have to take the Title Insurance Exam to just do Title Searches or can you start doing Title Searches for individual Companies?

I am studying a Title Search course and would like to do Title Searches.


Reggie
Kansas

Reply by Shannon_Va on 4/12/05 12:52am
Msg #31079

You have no test to take currently to do searches. But without 3 years experience doing them you will be hard pressed to find e&o. And if you do, your annual premium will be around $2500-3000. ANd without E&O it is hard to get any clients. Remeber that if a client tells you that you are covered under their policy, you ARE NOT. Your work may be, but YOU are not. If there is a claim, their ins. will over it but they will come after you to recoupe the loss. THere goes the car, house and savings. And who now these days borrows less that $200k on the average purchase or refi? There is alot of liability.


What areas do you want to cover.

Reply by Judith_VA on 4/11/05 10:28am
Msg #30885

Shannon/VA are you incorporated? How did you get bonded? When I was trying to get insurance I could only get E&O.

Thank you for all of your help and willingness to share the information.

Reply by Shannon_Va on 4/12/05 12:48am
Msg #31077

Yes I am incorporated for my search company and my notary signing agent company is an LLP. You do not need to be bonded in Virginia unless you have a payrolled employee. You can even get Crespa certified with out it if you are self employed.

On the searching note: I would NEVER recommend any online classes to learn it. There is no one class online out there that can specifically meet the required education needed to teach every county in every state, as they are all totally different.
Where I live, the community college (TCC) has a class to teach title searches, taught by a wonderful well experienced attorney. He even takes you to the beach courthouse. But even that alone is not enough to go out on your own and search.

I am involved in an orginization in which we are creating a national abstractor certification. I am the chair for it. I see it here about the notaries, and the abstractors have the same problem. New people not knowing how to do the work correctly, undercutting fees and causing claims and e&o rates to rise. It is all about education and ethics!!!