What is title insurance in Texas, and why is the price the same everywhere?

Texas title insurance premium rates are promulgated by the Texas Department of Insurance, so the premium for a given policy amount is identical at every title company in Texas. Shopping title companies is about service, escrow fees and closing experience, not premium price. The current rate schedule took effect March 1, 2026.

The promulgated-rate fact, stated plainly

Texas does not let title insurers set their own premium rates. The Texas Department of Insurance sets them and publishes the schedule. The current one is titled "Texas Title Insurance Premium Rates, Rates Effective March 1, 2026" (TDI, full schedule, PDF).

The consequence is the part almost no consumer knows: for a given policy amount, the title insurance premium is the same number at every title company in the state. The big national underwriter, the regional independent, the small office in the town square — same premium. Not similar. The same.

So the advice buyers arrive with from other states — "call three title companies and compare quotes" — does not do what they think it does in Texas. You can call three. The premium line will match.

Look up the actual number for your price point on the TDI schedule rather than trusting a figure quoted in an article, including this one. The schedule is a rate table by policy amount and it is the authoritative source.

What is actually left to shop

Plenty. The premium is fixed; the rest of the experience is not.

Escrow and closing fees. These are the title company's own charges for acting as escrow agent, and they are not the promulgated premium. Ask for a written fee sheet.
Ancillary charges — courier, wire, recording service, document prep, e-recording, tax certificates. Small individually, not zero together.
Competence on a hard file. A file with probate, an unreleased lien, an out-of-state seller, an entity in the chain, or a metes-and-bounds description that does not match the survey is not a routine file. The difference between a title company that clears a Schedule C item in three days and one that clears it in three weeks is the whole deal.
Communication. Whether the escrow officer answers, and whether they tell you a problem exists before it is a crisis.
Where they close, and how. Location, after-hours availability, remote or mail-away closing capability for out-of-state parties.

That is a real list of differences worth choosing between. It is just not a price list.

What the policy actually covers

Two policies, two different beneficiaries.

The owner's policy protects the buyer's ownership interest against covered title defects that existed before the policy date — a forged deed in the chain, an undisclosed heir, a missed lien, a recording error, a spousal interest that was never released. It is a one-time premium and it lasts as long as the insured holds an interest.

The lender's policy protects the lender's lien position, in the amount of the loan. It protects the lender. It does not protect the buyer's equity.

A cash buyer who skips the owner's policy has no title coverage at all. A financed buyer who assumes the lender's policy covers them has misunderstood what they paid for.

Title insurance is also backward-looking, not forward-looking. It covers defects that already existed as of the policy date. It is not a home warranty, it does not cover condition, and it does not cover things you agreed to exclude.

Coverage is shaped by the exceptions, not the premium

This is where the money actually moves.

The policy issues subject to the exceptions on Schedule B of the title commitment, and the contract itself enumerates them. Paragraph 6A of the One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale) lists what the policy is subject to (TREC form 20-19, PDF):

restrictive covenants common to the platted subdivision
the standard printed exception for standby fees, taxes and assessments
liens created as part of the financing under Paragraph 3
utility easements created by the dedication deed or plat
reservations otherwise permitted or approved by the buyer in writing
the standard printed exception as to marital rights
the standard printed exception as to waters, tidelands, beaches, streams and related matters
the minerals exception approved by the Texas Department of Insurance
the survey exception

The survey exception is 6A(8), and it is a checkbox with exactly two positions. The standard printed exception as to "discrepancies, conflicts, shortages in area or boundary lines, encroachments or protrusions, or overlapping improvements" either "will not be amended or deleted from the title policy," or "will be amended to read, 'shortages in area'" at the expense of the buyer or the seller.

Amending it does not delete the exception. It narrows it to area shortages, which restores coverage for the encroachment and boundary problems that actually generate claims. Which box is checked, and who pays, is negotiated in the offer like everything else.

Getting the amendment requires a survey the title company and lender will accept. That is either a new survey, or the existing survey plus a T-47 Residential Real Property Affidavit, notarized, stating nothing has changed since it was made (TDI). There is also a T-47.1 Declaration in Lieu of Affidavit, seller-signed but not notarized, effective November 1, 2024 (TDI). The contract names both forms by name.

If the seller built a deck, a pool or a fence after the old survey, the affidavit route closes. A new survey has to be ordered, and it needs to be ordered early.

Endorsements add or modify coverage on specific issues. Ask the title company which endorsements apply to your transaction, what each one does, and what it costs — the TDI schedule is the reference for what is regulated, and the escrow officer can tell you what is being added to your file.

Who pays for it in Texas

Negotiated in the contract. Not fixed by law — and you do not have to take that on faith, because the promulgated form says so on its face.

Paragraph 6A reads: "Seller shall furnish to Buyer at [ ] Seller's [ ] Buyer's expense an owner policy of title insurance (Title Policy) issued by [Title Company] in the amount of the Sales Price, dated at or after closing" (TREC form 20-19, PDF). It is a checkbox. A cost allocation that were fixed by law would not need one.

The long-running custom across much of Texas is that the seller pays for the owner's title policy and the buyer pays for the lender's policy — and the contract's expense paragraph puts the loan title policy with endorsements required by lender squarely in the Buyer's Expenses list, alongside one-half of the escrow fee, with the other half in the Seller's Expenses. But the owner's policy line is a checkbox, custom varies by market, and in a competitive situation it is one of the first things that moves. What matters is what the executed contract says.

That makes the owner's policy a negotiating item rather than a fixed cost, which is a more useful way to think about it than treating it as a line on a standard closing-cost list.

The contract tells you to have a lawyer read it

Not an outside opinion — the form's own text. Paragraph 6E(1) states that "Broker advises Buyer to have an abstract of title covering the Property examined by an attorney of Buyer's selection," and that if a Title Policy is furnished instead, the "Commitment should be promptly reviewed by an attorney of Buyer's choice due to the time limitations on Buyer's right to object."

And Paragraph 23 is headed CONSULT AN ATTORNEY BEFORE SIGNING, with the printed line: "TREC rules prohibit real estate brokers and sales agents from giving legal advice. READ THIS CONTRACT CAREFULLY." The form provides fields for the buyer's and seller's attorneys.

Nobody is required to hire one. The promulgated contract advises it in two separate places, and the reason given is the clock on the objection right.

The closing itself

No attorney is required to close a residential transaction in Texas. The title company acts as escrow agent, runs the title search, issues the commitment and the policy, prepares closing documents, and disburses funds. Hiring an attorney is optional and sometimes well worth it — complex title, entity purchases, seller financing, estate issues.

And the distinction that trips up out-of-state buyers: signing is not closing. The deal closes when the title company funds and records. Documents are not recorded and funds are not disbursed until every required item is in. A buyer who signs at 10 a.m. does not necessarily own anything at 10:15.

Questions about a specific property?

Call or text 830-446-3847 · Email heath.shepard@kw.com

This page explains how Texas title insurance is priced and what it covers. It is not legal advice. For a title defect, a coverage question, or whether an exception affects your intended use, talk with a Texas real estate attorney.