This text of Iowa § 535B.19 (Trust account requirements for closing agents) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
A licensee acting as a closing agent shall comply with all of the following:
1.All moneys received for disbursement during a real estate closing shall be deposited
in a trust account and, when deposited, the moneys shall be designated as trust funds or
trust accounts or under some other appropriate name indicating that the moneys are not the
moneys of the licensee.
2.All trust account moneys shall be deposited in a financial institution that is insured
by the federal deposit insurance corporation or national credit union share insurance fund
unlessthetransactiondoesnotinvolveresidentialrealestateandanotherfinancialinstitution
has been designated in writing in the escrow instructions.
3.If the trust account earns interest and the interest earned is retained by any party other
than the pa
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A licensee acting as a closing agent shall comply with all of the following:
1. All moneys received for disbursement during a real estate closing shall be deposited
in a trust account and, when deposited, the moneys shall be designated as trust funds or
trust accounts or under some other appropriate name indicating that the moneys are not the
moneys of the licensee.
2. All trust account moneys shall be deposited in a financial institution that is insured
by the federal deposit insurance corporation or national credit union share insurance fund
unlessthetransactiondoesnotinvolveresidentialrealestateandanotherfinancialinstitution
has been designated in writing in the escrow instructions.
3. If the trust account earns interest and the interest earned is retained by any party other
than the party to the real estate transaction who is the owner of the funds, the licensee shall
disclose this fact in writing to the parties to the transaction.
4. Alicenseeshallenterintoawrittenagreementtopayinteresttoapartytoatransaction,
or to a third party if requested by the parties to a transaction, if the client’s trust funds can
earn net interest. In determining whether a client can earn net interest on funds placed in
trust, the licensee shall take into consideration all relevant factors including the following:
a. The amount of interest that the funds would earn during the period in which they are
reasonably expected to be deposited.
b. The cost of establishing and administering an individual interest-bearing trust account
in which the interest would be transmitted to the client, including any needed tax forms.
c. The capability of the financial institution to calculate and pay interest to individual
clients through subaccounting or otherwise.
5. The licensee shall notify the administrator of the name of each financial institution in
which a trust account is maintained and the name of the account on forms acceptable to the
administrator. A licensee may maintain more than one trust account provided it advises the
administrator of the multiple accounts.
6. A licensee shall only deposit trust funds in a trust account and shall not commingle the
licensee’spersonalfundsorotherfundsinthetrustaccountwiththeexceptionthatalicensee
may deposit and keep a sum not to exceed one thousand dollars in the trust account from the
licensee’s personal funds, which sum shall be specifically identified and deposited to cover
bank service charges relating to the trust account or to advance funds to pay incidental fees
as permitted in section 535B.20, subsection 2.
7. Moneys deposited in a trust account are not subject to execution or attachment or to
any claim against the licensee.
8. A licensee shall not knowingly keep or cause to be kept any money in any bank, credit
union, or other financial institution under any name designating the moneys as belonging to
a client of the licensee, unless the money was actually entrusted to the licensee for deposit in
trust.