2016 Tennessee Code
Title 56 - Insurance
Chapter 35 - Title Insurance Law
Part 1 - Operation of Title Insurance Businesses
§ 56-35-132. Rating organizations.

(a) Unless it files its own rates, every title insurance company shall be a member of or subscribe to a rating organization licensed under this chapter and every filing or any modification of any rate, schedule, form, contract, or other item required by this chapter or by any rule or regulation made by the commissioner shall be made on behalf of the title insurance company by the rating bureau of which it is a member or to which it subscribes.

(b) A corporation, an unincorporated association, a partnership or an individual, whether located within or outside the state, may make application for a license as a rating organization for title insurance companies and shall file with the application:

(1) A copy of its constitution, its articles of agreement or association or its certificate of incorporation, and of its bylaws, rules and regulations governing the conduct of its business;

(2) A list of its members and subscribers;

(3) The name and address of a resident of this state upon whom notices or orders of the commissioner or process affecting the rating organization may be served; and

(4) A statement of its qualifications as a title insurance rating organization.

(c) If the commissioner finds that the applicant is qualified, the commissioner shall issue a license authorizing the applicant to act as a rating organization for title insurance companies. The application shall be granted or denied in whole or in part by the commissioner within sixty (60) days after the date of its filing with the commissioner. The licenses issued pursuant to this section shall remain in effect until suspended or revoked by the commissioner. The fee for the license shall be five hundred dollars ($500).

(d) Each rating organization shall furnish its ratemaking service without discrimination to all of its members and subscribers and shall, subject to reasonable rules and regulations, permit any title insurance company, not admitted to membership, to become a subscriber. The refusal of any rating organization to admit a title insurance company as a subscriber shall, at the request of the title insurance company, be reviewed by the commissioner at a hearing held upon at least ten (10) days' written notice to the rating organization and the title insurance company. If the rating organization fails to grant or reject a title insurance company's application for subscribership within thirty (30) days after it was made, the title insurance company may request a review by the commissioner as if the application had been rejected. If the commissioner finds that the title insurance company has been refused admittance to the rating organization as a subscriber without justification, the commissioner shall make an order directing the rating organization to admit the title insurance company as a subscriber. If the commissioner finds that the action of the rating organization in refusing admittance to a title insurance company as a subscriber is justified, the commissioner shall make an order affirming its action.

(e) Except as provided in subsection (f), each member of or subscriber to a rating organization shall adhere to the schedule of rates filed in its behalf by the rating organization.

(f) Any member of or subscriber to a rating organization may appeal to the commissioner from the decision of the rating organization in approving or rejecting any proposed change in or addition to the filings of the rating organization; and the commissioner shall, after a hearing held on not less than ten (10) days' written notice to the appellant and to the rating organization, issue an order approving the decision of the rating organization or directing it to give further consideration to the proposal. The failure of a rating organization to take action or make a decision within thirty (30) days after submission to it of a proposal under this subsection (f) shall constitute a rejection of the proposal within the meaning of this subsection (f).

(g) The commissioner shall, at least once in five (5) years, make or cause to be made an examination of each rating organization licensed in this state. The reasonable cost of the examination shall be paid by the rating organization examined upon presentation to it of a detailed account of the cost. The officers, managers, agents and employees of the rating organization may be examined under oath and shall exhibit all books, records, accounts, documents or agreements governing its method of operation. The commissioner may waive the examination upon proof that the rating organization has, within a reasonably recent period, been examined by the insurance supervisory official of another state, pursuant to the laws of that state, and upon the filing with the commissioner of a copy of the report of the examination.