How can I become a licensed Pennsylvania Title Agent?           

To become a licensed Pennsylvania title agent the Pennsylvania Insurance Department requires that you take and pass the Pennsylvania title agent's licensing exam.  Exam sites are located throughout the state, and can be found on the experior website. The Agent’s Licensing Bulletin contains a test outline. You can register for the test online at http://www.experioronline.com/. Under Test Takers: Academic/Pennsylvania/Insurance.  

There are no licensing prerequisites for Pennsylvania title agents even though the Bulletin discusses prerequisites for insurance producers.  That term refers to lines of insurance other than title.  Once you pass the title agent licensing test, you will receive a certificate which you can take to one or more title underwriters to sponsor you as its agent.  The certificate is good for one year from the date you pass the exam.  Applications for a title agency to be licensed and applications to take the test are also in the licensing Bulletin. 

Once you are licensed, there is a continuing education (CE) requirement of 24 credit hours for non-attorney agents and 3 credit hours for licensed attorneys (who must also be compliant with their continuing legal education requirement).  In order to comply with the continuing education requirement in Pennsylvania, you can attend any of Pennsylvania Land Title Institute’s (PLTI) programs.  PLTI runs 50+ accredited seminars a year throughout the state.  These PLTI courses are accredited for both CE and Pennsylvania CLE.  Within this website go to the Calendar of Events section to see what is being offered each month. New seminars are added on a regular basis.  In the Calendar of Events section you can also download a brochure/registration form for each seminar.

PLTI also offers excellent online courses that will give you the credits you need.  Go to www.pltionline.org for a listing of available online courses.

Please note: YOU CANNOT RECEIVE CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS AS A TITLE AGENT UNLESS YOU ARE LICENSED IN PENNSYLVANIA AS A TITLE AGENT.  You can always take seminars that interest you, however, whether you are licensed or not in order to keep up with the frequent changes in laws and procedures in title.  Whatever courses you take after you become licensed will count toward your continuing education requirement.

Before you take the agent's exam it is recommended that you take PLTI’s Licensing Test Guidelines course, which can be mailed to you as a CD-ROM.  Fundamentals of Pennsylvania Real Estate and Land Title Insurance Practice is an additional self-study course " home study " that is Pennsylvania-specific and a handy desk reference for those engaged in the business of title insurance or real estate. The leading title insurance professionals in Pennsylvania have this on their bookshelves!

The October 17, 1992 versions of the American Land Title Association owner’s and loan policies are covered in the exam as is the Pennsylvania Title Code.  The policies are printed in full and discussed at length in Lesson 11 of Section II of the Home Study course.  The provisions of these policies and common endorsements (Lesson 12 of Section II) are covered in the licensing exam.  The Title Code and the policies are also included in the Test Guidelines course. Brochures for those courses are attached below for your convenience

Membership in PLTA is crucial if you’re going to be in the title business in Pennsylvania.  The PLTA offers important, current information and education in addition to a ready-made network of land title professionals.  The dues are more than made up in discounts on all educational programs needed for an agent to maintain his or her license.  The association monitors legislative actions that affect the industry and maintains a legislative counsel in the state capitol.  Our quarterly magazine, Common Ground, is one of the best sources of information on the business, including abstracts of the latest Pennsylvania real estate and title cases.  Within this website, go to the “Membership” tab and download an

application.  Of course, we are available by phone at 610-265-5980 to answer any of your questions that have not been addressed here.