Subdivision 1. Direct risk premiums. For purposes of this chapter, "direct risk premiums" means the charge for title insurance made by a title insurer or its agents according to the insurer's rate filing approved by the commissioner of commerce without a deduction for commissions paid to or retained by the agent and is that portion of the fee charged by a title insurer to an insured or an applicant for insurance for the assumption by the title insurer of the risk created by the issuance of the title insurance policy. Direct risk premiums of a title insurer do not include any other charge or fee for abstracting, searching, or examining the title, or for escrow, closing, or other related services.
Subd. 2. Title insurance. For purposes of this chapter, "title insurance" means insuring owners of real or personal property, the holders of liens, interests or encumbrances thereon, or others interested therein, against loss or damage suffered by reason of liens, encumbrances upon, defects in, or the unmarketability of the title to the property; the invalidity, impairment, lack of priority, or unenforceability of any liens or encumbrances on the property; or the doing, or proposing to do, any business in substance equivalent to any of the foregoing whether or not designed to evade the provisions of this chapter.
2004 c 227 s 3; 2008 c 347 s 2; 2014 c 198 art 4 s 11