IBA Compliance Connection

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When a title insurance agent is acting as settlement agent for a residential mortgage closing, do we need to show the agent’s Illinois title insurance license number on the Closing Disclosure?

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Yes, we believe that when a settlement or closing agent is a registered title insurance agent, the Closing Disclosure should display the agent’s Illinois title insurance registration number.

Regulation Z’s requirements for the Closing Disclosure include the disclosure of “a license number or unique identifier for each person (including natural persons) identified in the table who does not have a NMLSR ID if the applicable State, locality, or other regulatory body with responsibility for licensing and/or registering such person’s business activities has issued a license number or other unique identifier to such person . . . .”

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) is the Illinois agency that provides registration numbers for title insurance agents. The IDFPR has issued a notice to clarify that the CFPB mortgage disclosures should display a title agent’s registration number: “In order to avoid confusion with the requirements of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), title insurance agents in Illinois are not issued ‘license’ numbers. Such agents are ‘registered’ and are given a registration number. Please use the registration number in order to comply with the ‘license’ requirements of the CFPB.”

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

  • Official Interpretations, Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026, Paragraph 38(r), Comment 5 (“Section 1026.38(r)(3) and (5) requires the disclosure of a license number or unique identifier for each person (including natural persons) identified in the table who does not have a NMLSR ID if the applicable State, locality, or other regulatory body with responsibility for licensing and/or registering such person’s business activities has issued a license number or other unique identifier to such person under § 1026.38(r)(3) and (5). . . .”)
  • IDFPR Title Insurance CFPB Notice (“In order to avoid confusion with the requirements of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), title insurance agents in Illinois are not issued ‘license’ numbers. Such agents are ‘registered’ and are given a registration number. Please use the registration number in order to comply with the ‘license’ requirements of the CFPB.”)