Insurance: underwritten title companies.

Existing law regulates underwritten title companies, which prepare title searches, title examinations, title reports, or certificates or abstracts of title that are used by a title insurer to write title insurance policies. Existing law requires an underwritten title company to maintain current assets of at least $10,000 in excess of its current liabilities, and authorizes the commissioner to define "current assets and liabilities." This bill would increase the amount of current assets that an underwritten title company is required to maintain to $25,000 in excess of its current liabilities. The bill would exclude a liability derived from an operating lease obligation from an underwritten title company's current liabilities for purposes of calculating the company's required current assets.