What is the GARC and how much is it?
For one year on All Policies Closed from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018 – Title Agents are required to collect a GARC fee for each owners and loan (mortgagee) policy issued throughout all of 2018, and then remit these funds quarterly to TTIGA. The amount of the fee is set by the Commissioner of Insurance, and is $4.50 per policy for the entire year of 2018. The remittance process is very similar to the Guaranty Fee remittance.
Any GARC Fee not previously remitted should be remitted to TTIGA using the same procedures as for the remittance of Guaranty Fees.
The fees are due on the first day of the month following each calendar quarter. Per the Title Manual rules, the remittance must be postmarked ON OR BEFORE the Due Date. If the Due Date falls on a weekend or Holiday, the fees must still be postmarked BEFORE the Due Date. The Due Dates are:
| Calendar Quarter Ending | Remittance Due Dates |
| January – March 31 | May 1 |
| April – June 30 | August 1 |
| July – September 30 | November 1 |
| October – December 31 | February 1 |
The GARC Remittance Form:
The remittance form is designed by the Title Division of Texas Department of Insurance and promulgated by the Commissioner of Insurance. Modification or copying of the form is not allowed. If you have any problems with the form on this page, please let Velia Sanchez know at 512-480-5100 and she will try to assist you.
GARC Remittance Supplemental Form-PDF BLANK
GARC Remittance Supplemental Form-PDF WITH QUARTER DATES
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
- Number One Most Frequently Asked Question: Do we have to remit the fees collected for a transaction that closed on December 31, 2018 but for which we didn’t receive the money until January 2019 or later? Answer: Yes the operative date is the date of closing – for our purposes, the date on which the transaction documents are signed rather than the date of funding.
- The GARC checks can be cut from the same escrow account as the guaranty fee; however, if you have any guaranty fee stragglers, you must remit the GARC with separate checks. The GARC is deposited into a different account than the guaranty fees were.
- This also means we will not accept any wire transfers for either fees any longer.
- Procedure-wise, remittance to TTIGA is not much different from the Guaranty Fee remittances. The form is the same, the due dates are the same, but the amount is different. Read the GF FAQs to give you an idea.
- What is our Firm ID Number? At the end of 2013, the Texas Department of Insurance switched from the “Agency ID” to using the number associated with Sircon, Sircon is the licensing service provider for Texas (See this announcement from TDI in 2009). The Firm ID is a 5-digit number (soon to be 6 digits). If you don’t know what your Firm ID No. is, you can download the entire list from TDI’s website https://apps.tdi.state.tx.us/sfsdatalookup/StartAction.do or lookup your account with Sircon.
IF YOU HAVE 2014 GARC MONEY TO SEND, PLEASE CALL US FOR ASSISTANCE. WE WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE PROPER FORM AND APPLICABLE INSTRUCTIONS. THANK YOU.