You can’t negotiate the price of title insurance in New York, and it isn’t a percentage of the purchase price. The premium comes from a rate schedule filed by the Title Insurance Rate Service Association (TIRSA) and approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS).
All five NYC boroughs and Westchester County are in the same rate zone, called Zone 2. So the same rates apply in Manhattan, Staten Island and Scarsdale. Your premium depends on three things: how much coverage you buy, which policy you buy, and whether the owner’s and loan policies are issued together.
Who sets the price
TIRSA files the rates and a rate manual for its member title insurers, and DFS approves them. The current manual is the TIRSA Rate Manual, Seventh Revision, effective October 1, 2024. Two of its rules matter most to you:
- The charges are fixed. They can’t be waived, reduced or increased except as New York insurance law allows. A title agency can’t discount the premium to win your business.
- Insurers follow the manual unless they have an approved exception. An exception like this is called a deviation. A member insurer must file it and DFS must approve it.
Why two underwriters can quote different owner’s premiums
The price is the same at every company for most policies, but not all. Several title insurers have approved deviations that lower the owner’s policy rate for policies under $1,000,000. The lower rates are not the same at every insurer.
- Loan policies follow the TIRSA rate.
- Owner’s policies of $1 million or more follow the TIRSA rate.
- An owner’s policy under $1 million may cost less than the TIRSA rate. It depends on which underwriter (the insurance company behind the title agency) issues the policy.
Zone 2 covers NYC and Westchester
The manual puts these counties in Zone 2: Albany, Bronx, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Kings (Brooklyn), Nassau, New York (Manhattan), Orange, Putnam, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond (Staten Island), Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester. The rest of the state is Zone 1, which has its own rates.
In Zone 2, the premium already includes the title search and tax search for one tax lot. It also includes one update of each search, called a continuation. In Zone 1, searches are charged separately.
Zone 2 rates
The premium is built in layers. The first $35,000 of coverage has a flat charge. Each additional $1,000, or part of $1,000, is charged at the rate for its bracket. The rate per $1,000 drops as coverage goes up.
| Amount of insurance | Owner’s policy | Loan policy |
|---|---|---|
| First $35,000 or less (minimum premium) | $382 | $327 |
| $35,001 to $50,000 | $6.34 per $1,000 | $5.27 per $1,000 |
| $50,001 to $100,000 | $5.16 per $1,000 | $4.31 per $1,000 |
| $100,001 to $500,000 | $4.14 per $1,000 | $3.46 per $1,000 |
| $500,001 to $1,000,000 | $3.78 per $1,000 | $3.14 per $1,000 |
| $1,000,001 to $5,000,000 | $3.48 per $1,000 | $2.90 per $1,000 |
| $5,000,001 to $10,000,000 | $3.09 per $1,000 | $2.57 per $1,000 |
| $10,000,001 to $15,000,000 | $2.92 per $1,000 | $2.42 per $1,000 |
| Over $15,000,000 | $2.62 per $1,000 | $2.19 per $1,000 |
These are the TIRSA Zone 2 base rates as published by title insurers and agents (Investors Title New York rates, Thalwei TIRSA rate table). Premiums are charged in whole dollars, and 50 cents rounds up.
What changes the number
How much coverage. An owner’s policy generally can’t be written for less than the purchase price or the market value, whichever is higher. The price includes any liens you take over from the seller. A loan policy is written for the loan amount.
Buying both policies together. When an owner’s policy and a loan policy are issued together on the same property, you pay the full owner’s rate. The loan policy costs only 30% of the loan rate for coverage up to the owner’s policy amount. Any loan coverage above that amount is charged at the full loan rate. For a purchase with a loan, this is the biggest discount in the manual.
Extra owner’s coverage. If you’re an individual buying residential property, you can choose the TIRSA Owner’s Extended Protection Policy (OEPP). It adds coverage beyond the standard owner’s policy. It can also be issued to a living trust that an individual set up for estate planning. It costs 120% of the owner’s rate.
Refinances. A refinance loan policy on an owner-occupied one-to-four family home gets its own lower rates. That is a different calculation and isn’t covered in the examples below.
Worked examples (Zone 2)
These examples are for illustration. They use the TIRSA rates above. They leave out endorsements, extra searches, recording fees, taxes and other charges. Each $1,000, or part of $1,000, counts as a full unit.
Example 1: $800,000 purchase with a $640,000 loan
Owner’s policy at the TIRSA rate:
- First $35,000: $382.00
- $35,001 to $50,000: 15 × $6.34 = $95.10
- $50,001 to $100,000: 50 × $5.16 = $258.00
- $100,001 to $500,000: 400 × $4.14 = $1,656.00
- $500,001 to $800,000: 300 × $3.78 = $1,134.00
- Owner’s premium: $3,525.10, charged as $3,525
Loan policy, bought at the same time:
- Full loan rate on $640,000: $327 + (15 × $5.27) + (50 × $4.31) + (400 × $3.46) + (140 × $3.14) = $327 + $79.05 + $215.50 + $1,384.00 + $439.60 = $2,445.15
- 30% of $2,445.15 = $733.55, charged as $734
Total for both policies: $4,259. With the OEPP instead of the standard owner’s policy, the owner’s premium is 120% × $3,525.10 = $4,230.12, or $4,230. The total becomes $4,964.
Example 2: $1,500,000 purchase with a $1,200,000 loan
Owner’s policy: the first $800,000 costs $3,525.10 (from Example 1). Add 200 × $3.78 = $756.00 to reach $1,000,000. Then add 500 × $3.48 = $1,740.00 for the next $500,000. Owner’s premium: $6,021.10, charged as $6,021. No lower owner’s rate applies at this amount.
Loan policy: the full loan rate on $1,200,000 is $327 + $79.05 + $215.50 + $1,384.00 + (500 × $3.14 = $1,570.00) + (200 × $2.90 = $580.00) = $4,155.55. The loan is less than the owner’s amount, so all of it gets the 30% rate: 30% × $4,155.55 = $1,246.67, charged as $1,247.
Total for both policies: $7,268.
Example 3: the same $800,000 owner’s policy at a lower approved rate
This uses the Zone 2 owner’s rates in one insurer’s deviation filing effective January 1, 2022: a $325 minimum, then $5.39, $4.39, $3.52 and $3.21 per $1,000.
- $325.00 + (15 × $5.39) + (50 × $4.39) + (400 × $3.52) + (300 × $3.21)
- = $325.00 + $80.85 + $219.50 + $1,408.00 + $963.00 = $2,996.35, charged as $2,996
That is $529 less than the TIRSA rate on the same policy. Another underwriter’s lower rates give a different figure. One published Zone 2 schedule ($341.70 minimum, then $5.67, $4.62, $3.71 and $3.38) gives $3,155.75, charged as $3,156. The loan premium in Example 1 doesn’t change.
This is why percentage rules of thumb don’t work. In Example 1 the owner’s premium is about 0.44% of the price at the TIRSA rate and about 0.37% at the lower rate. The percentage falls as the price rises, because the rate per $1,000 falls.
What the premium covers, and what it doesn’t
The premium pays for the insurance and, in Zone 2, the basic search. Most other lines on a title bill are separate charges. Some are set by the manual. Others are set by the government or the title company. For who prepares and collects the title bill, see who does what at a New York closing.
| Item | In premium? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Title search and tax search, one tax lot | Yes | Included in Zone 2 |
| One update of each search | Yes | Included in Zone 2 |
| Extra tax lots, multiple chains of title | No | Extra charges allowed by the manual |
| Municipal department searches | No | Charged separately as extra services |
| Endorsements | No | Each has its own charge in the manual |
| Recording | No | Government fees plus any service charge |
| Mortgage recording tax and transfer taxes | No | Taxes, often collected by the title closer |
| Closer time over two hours, unusual travel | No | Extra charges allowed by the manual |
| Closer fee | Varies | Varies by local custom; often billed separately |
- Municipal department searches check building, fire, street, emergency repair and similar city records.
- Endorsements add or change coverage. Some have a flat charge. Others are a percentage of the premium.
- Recording means government recording fees, plus any title company service charge.
- Taxes: see mortgage recording tax and Westchester city transfer taxes.
- Closer fee: ask whether one applies. A New York State Bar Association survey of Westchester practice reports that the closer’s attendance is included in the premium there.
Endorsements are where premiums differ most between similar deals. A lender may require several on the loan policy, and an owner can ask for others. For example, the 2024 manual added several ALTA 9 series endorsements, standard forms from the American Land Title Association. Each costs $50 for residential property and $250 for non-residential (Stewart bulletin).
How to get an accurate number
- Start from the amounts. The owner’s amount is the purchase price, or market value if higher. The loan amount is on your loan commitment.
- Ask which underwriter will issue the owner’s policy. On an owner’s policy under $1 million, this decides whether a lower rate applies.
- Ask for a pro forma title bill, an advance itemized bill. It should list the premium, each endorsement, each search, recording charges and taxes. Compare it line by line with your Loan Estimate or Closing Disclosure.
- Check the math. Most underwriters publish a New York rate calculator that applies the brackets, the rounding and the 30% rule for policies issued together. The premium line should match it to the dollar. By law it can’t be discounted or marked up.
- Decide on the OEPP early. It costs 20% more than the standard owner’s policy. Only an individual or a qualifying trust can buy it, and only on residential property.
Details for attorneys and title professionals
- Rate filing law. New York bars insurers from using a rate service organization that is not licensed (licensing law). Title rates are subject to the state’s general rate filing rules (title insurance rate law).
- What the Seventh Revision changed. It rewrote rules and endorsements and moved New York to the 2021 ALTA policy forms. It did not change the rate brackets or zones (Stewart bulletin). The same bulletin lists the charges for endorsements added in the Seventh Revision.
- The 2019 rate reduction. Current base rates reflect a uniform 5% reduction used to comply with a DFS title insurance regulation. DFS stated that title policies issued after February 15, 2019 at rates not reflecting that compliance would violate New York law (DFS circular letter).
- Fee limits struck down. The same regulation’s limits on ancillary fees and closer payments were annulled by a 2019 court decision (DFS circular letter).
- History of owner’s deviations. In 2006, underwriters reduced owner’s premiums on purchases up to $1 million (Stewart bulletin). Deviations of this kind are still in use. The 2022 filing used in Example 3 covers owner’s policies under $1 million and expressly excludes all loan policies.
- Where the rules are in the manual. Official sources lists the manual sections behind each rule in this guide. The searches left out of the premium are what the manual calls ancillary services.
Official sources
- TIRSA Rate Manual, Seventh Revision, effective October 1, 2024 (Sections 2(A), 2(E), 2(G), 3(A), 3(C), 3(D), 5(B), 10(B)(1), 12A, 12B, 20 and Part IV; also on tirsa.org)
- NY Insurance Law § 2313, rate service organizations
- NY Insurance Law § 2339, charging of rates and deviations
- NY Insurance Law § 6409(b), title insurance policy forms and rates
- DFS Insurance Circular Letter No. 2a (2019), Regulation 208 rate compliance
- Stewart Title bulletin NY000711, Seventh Revision changes
- Stewart Title bulletin NY000287, 2006 owner’s rate deviations
- WFG New York rate deviation filing, effective January 1, 2022
- NYSBA Residential Real Estate Practice Guide, Westchester survey