Section 12377.

(a) All escrow funds received by an underwritten title company that are subject to Section 12413.5 shall not be considered part of the estate of the underwritten title company for purposes of liquidation, receivership, bankruptcy, or conservation pursuant to Article 14 (commencing with Section 1010) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 1.

(b) Where an underwritten title company is placed into conservation, receivership, or bankruptcy and the escrow accounts held by the company are found to have shortages, the department, conservator, liquidator, receiver, or bankruptcy trustee shall do everything reasonably possible to trace these moneys to other depository accounts or assets.

(c) Any real or personal property traceable to shortages in the escrow accounts shall not be considered part of the estate available to other claimants under Section 1033. Those assets shall be liquidated and paid in the following order: (1) if the commissioner has paid or advanced funds to subescrow or escrow accountholders from sources other than the escrow established pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 12376, they shall be paid to the commissioner to the extent that the commissioner has not been repaid by title insurers having liability under Section 12376, (2) they shall be deposited into an escrow established pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 12376, and (3) they shall be directly reimbursed to the title insurer or insurers that have reimbursed escrow depositors under Section 12376. In no event shall a title insurer be reimbursed an amount in excess of its liability as determined in Section 12376.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 899, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2003.)