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Senate bill aims to fix title-insurance glitch and preserve right of first refusal for tenants who buy rented residential property
Summary
Sponsor said SB606 corrects a wording error that was preventing title insurers from issuing insurance on properties bought by tenants who previously leased them; the change is limited and was presented as noncontroversial.
Senate Bill 606 was presented as a technical fix to a wording error in last year's housing legislation that, stakeholders said, was impeding title insurers from issuing policies for buyers who purchased properties that had previously been leased.
"It fixes this tiny little glitch in the governor's bill last year dealing with housing," Senator West said. He explained the title-insurance community flagged the problem during the summer, and that changing one word to two words in the statute would allow title insurers to issue policies to cover properties bought by tenants who had leased them.
West said the bill passed unanimously in the Senate and that the House version had passed the committee previously with bipartisan support. He offered to answer questions but noted the committee had already considered the measure earlier in the session.
The transcript records no formal committee vote during the hearing. The sponsor framed the bill as a narrowly tailored statutory clarification to restore the ability of title insurers to underwrite certain transactions involving former rental properties.
