Terms Used In Ohio Code > Chapter 3953 - Title Insurance

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
• Approved attorney: means an attorney at law who is not an employee of a title insurance company or a title insurance agent and upon whose examination of title and report on the examination a title insurance company may issue a policy of title insurance. See Ohio Code 3953.01
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Business day: means any day, other than a Saturday or Sunday, or a legal holiday, on which a bank, savings and loan association, credit union, or savings bank is open to the public for carrying on substantially all of its functions. See Ohio Code 3953.01
• business of title insurance: means the following:

  (1) The making as insurer, guarantor, or surety, or proposing to make as insurer, guarantor, or surety, any contract or policy of title insurance;

  (2) The transacting, or proposing to transact, any phase of title insurance, including solicitation, negotiation preliminary to execution, execution of a contract of title insurance, insuring, and transacting matters subsequent to the execution of the contract and arising out of it, including reinsurance;

  (3) The doing or proposing to do any business in substance equivalent to any of the foregoing. See Ohio Code 3953.01

• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Foreign title insurance company: means a title insurance company organized under the laws of any state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia. See Ohio Code 3953.01
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures; this provision does not affect any law relating to signatures. See Ohio Code 1.59
• Joint venture: means an arrangement undertaken jointly by two or more parties in regard to ownership of a business entity title insurance agent. See Ohio Code 3953.01
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Non-directed escrow funds: means any funds delivered to a title insurance agent or title insurance company with instructions to hold or disburse the funds pursuant to a transaction in which a title insurance policy will be issued, but without written instructions to either deposit the funds in an account for the benefit of a specific person or to pay the interest earned on the funds to a specific person. See Ohio Code 3953.01
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
• Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
• Title insurance: means insuring, guaranteeing, or indemnifying owners of real property or others interested in real property against loss or damage suffered by reason of liens or encumbrances upon, defect in, or the unmarketability of the title to the real property, guaranteeing, warranting, or otherwise insuring by a title insurance company the correctness of searches relating to the title to real property, or doing any business in substance equivalent to any of the foregoing. See Ohio Code 3953.01
• Title insurance agent: means a person, partnership, or corporation authorized in writing by a title insurance company to solicit insurance and collect premiums and to issue or countersign policies on its behalf. See Ohio Code 3953.01
• Title insurance company: means any of the following:

  (1) Any domestic title guaranty company and domestic title guarantee and trust company to the extent that they are engaged in the business of title insurance;

  (2) Any domestic company organized under this chapter for the purpose of insuring titles to real property;

  (3) Any title insurance company organized under the laws of another state or foreign government;

  (4) Any domestic or foreign company that has the powers and is authorized to insure titles to real estate within this state on December 12, 1967, and that meets the requirements of this chapter. See Ohio Code 3953.01

• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• United States: includes all the states. See Ohio Code 1.59