SummaryHB 652 permits escrow agents who are residents of a state adjacent to Texas and who are attorneys or employees of an attorney licensed as an escrow officer, a title insurance agent or direct operation with an office in Texas to become Notaries Public.
AnalysisPrevious law required title insurance escrow officers who are licensed by the Texas Department of Insurance to be Texas residents, ensuring that licensees did not operate from out-of-state locations. An individual wishing to work as an escrow officer in Texas was required to maintain a second legal residence in order to comply with Texas law. Furthermore, the law prohibited such escrow agents from holding a Texas Notary commission since an applicant must be a resident of Texas to become a Notary (Government Code Section 406.004). Additionally, the Government Code states that if a Notary removes him- or herself from the state, the commission is vacated (Government Code Section 406.020). House Bill 652 sets aside these provisions for licensed escrow agents who reside in a state adjacent to Texas (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma) and who are either attorneys or bona fide employees of an attorney licensed as an escrow officer, a title insurance agent or direct operation with an office in Texas, and permits them to be commissioned as Texas Notaries. Escrow agents must meet all other applicable requirements for a regular Notary commission.
Read House Bill 652.