Georgia § 15-19-52 - Lawful acts by parties involved; financial services advice; legal instruments; title papers.

§ 15-19-52. Lawful acts by parties involved; financial services advice; legal instruments; title papers.

Nothing contained in this article shall prevent any corporation, voluntary association, or individual from doing any act or acts set out in Code Section 15-19-50 to which the persons are a party; but, in preparing and filing affidavits in attachments and prosecuting such proceedings, it shall be unlawful for the plaintiffs to act through any agent or employee who is not a duly licensed attorney at law. Moreover, no financial institution, as defined by Code Section 7-1-4, whose deposits are federally insured shall be prohibited from giving any advice to its customers in matters incidental to providing financial services nor shall any person, firm, or corporation be prohibited from drawing any legal instrument for another person, firm, or corporation, provided that it is done without fee and solely at the solicitation and the request and under the direction of the person, firm, or corporation desiring to execute the instrument. Furthermore, a title insurance company may prepare such papers as it thinks proper or necessary in connection with a title which it proposes to insure, in order, in its opinion, for it to be willing to insure the title, where no charge is made by it for the papers. (Ga. L. 1931, p. 191, § 1; Code 1933, § 9-401; Ga. L. 1937, p. 753, § 1; Ga. L. 1976, p. 1511, § 1; Ga. L. 2016, p. 375, § 1/HB 759; Ga. L. 2017, p. 774, § 15/HB 323.) The 2016 amendment, effective July 1, 2016, in the second sentence, substituted "no financial institution, as defined by Code Section 7-1-4, whose deposits are federally insured" for "no bank" near the beginning and substituted "providing financial services" for "banks or banking" near the middle. The 2017 amendment, effective May 9, 2017, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, in the second sentence of this Code section, revised punctuation and substituted "provided that it is done" for "provided it is done". Cross references. - Definition of title insurance, § 33-7-8 . Law reviews. - For annual survey of real property law, see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 395 (2004). For comment discussing whether title companies utilizing attorneys are engaged in the practice of law, see 16 Mercer L. Rev. 349 (1964). For comment on Florida Bar v. Town, 174 So.2d 395 (Fla. 1965) as to unauthorized practice of law, see 17 Mercer L. Rev. 322 (1965). For comment on Georgia Bar Ass'n v. Lawyers Title Ins. Co., 222 Ga. 657 , 151 S.E.2d 718 (1966), discussing constitutional permissibility of legislative definition of practice of law and suggesting solutions to unauthorized practice of law, see 18 Mercer L. Rev. 486 (1967).