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In late May, the Santa Clara County, Calif. District Attorney’s Office charged a former escrow officer with 32 counts of embezzlement and grand theft for allegedly living “high on the hog” on the tab of her clients.

Melanie Melim, a former escrow officer with Alliance Title Co., faces up to 21 years in prison for allegedly stealing more than $1 million from client escrow accounts — funds that were considered to be guarded by a neutral third-party to the real estate transaction.

Instead, Melim used the funds to attend concerts and sporting events, take trips to Las Vegas and go on shopping sprees, authorities alleged.

As much as the allegations against Melim are personally troublesome, they also raise questions about the security of the escrow industry, a staple of the real estate business in California for more than a century.

But as the California escrow industry juggles confronting incidents such as these, waiting for the filing of a controversial rulemaking that would drastically cut its rates and pacing the floor of the state Capitol, one trade group has hinted that the industry may be gearing up for its toughest challenge yet.

‘An aligning of the stars’

Members of the Escrow Institute of California (EIC), a trade group that represents the state’s licensed, independent escrow industry, are laying the groundwork for a cross-industry meeting of the minds to bring stability to an industry confounded by a confusing maze of uneven regulatory oversight.

The EIC has officially opened the door for formal discussion of a proposal to bring California’s escrow practitioners — who, depending on their primary real estate business, must answer to one of five different state regulators — under the umbrella of a comprehensive, uniform escrow law with a single regulator.

According to EIC President P.J. Garcia, it’s a system that could do much to solve the escrow industry’s problems and relieve it of the burden of a regulatory structure that “just doesn’t make sense.”

“There is a broad array of bureaucracries that regulate escrow in California, to the extent that not even the regulators have an integral grasp of the picture,” Garcia said. “If that is the case, how can the consumer possibly understand it and know who to turn to? It’s a question of enhancing consumer protection and streamlining government, both of which we think are good goals.”

However, it’s an idea that has been tossed around before, without much agreement. Still, Garcia describes initial discussions among the various affected industries and regulators as “encouraging.”

“There’s the sense that there is an aligning of the stars,” she said. “But the devil is in the details. What we have to do is build a consensus.”

In the beginning

Independent escrow corporations have been providing closing services to California consumers in California since the late 1940s. The state Escrow Law, which was enacted in 1947, defines escrow providers as neutral, third-party agents for all principals in a real estate transaction.

The Escrow Law requires all corporations engaged in the escrow business as escrow agents to be licensed as independent escrow companies by the California Department of Corporations (DOC). However, in order to reach California’s more rural consumers, the state began to allow other real estate practitioners to provide escrow services to give consumers greater flexibility.

Thus, the state excluded the following groups from the licensure requirements of the Escrow Law:

“Any person whose principal business is that of preparing abstracts or making searches of title that are used as a basis for the issuance of a policy of title insurance by a company doing business under any law of this state relating to insurance companies.” These individuals are regulated by the Department of Insurance (DOI).

“Any real estate broker licensed by the real estate commissioner while performing acts in the course of or incidental to a real estate transaction patong hotels in which the broker is an agent or a party to the transaction and in which the broker is performing an act for which a real estate license is required.” These individuals are regulated by the Department of Real Estate (DRE).

“Any person doing business relating to banks, trust companies, building and loan or savings and loan associations.” These individuals are regulated by either the DOC or the DRE.

“Any person licensed to practice law in California who has a bona fide client attorney relationship with a principal in a real estate transaction finance a car with bad credit and who is not actively engaged in the business of an escrow agent.” These individuals are regulated by the state bar.
Garcia argued that while the current regulatory structure may have made sense when it was created, times have changed, and so should the system.

“I think the market has changed over the last 60 years or so, particularly in the last 10 or 15 years,” she said. “Technology has made a lot of changes. We’re no longer a predominantly rural state. Even the rural areas aren’t just rural anymore.”

Moreover, escrow practitioners licensed by the DOC are subject to a higher regulatory standard than those who are exempt from credit finance companies the Escrow Law, Garcia said. DOC licensees undergo background checks and fingerprinting by the Department of Justice and are bonded by the Escrow Agents’ Fidelity Corp., while those who are exempt from the Escrow Law get the all-clear from their primary industry regulator.

Such uneven standards may be a factor contributing to incidents such as the one involving Melim, Garcia said.

“Whenever something is reported, it is just reported laptop financing bad credit as escrow. There is no distinction made as to who the regulator is,” Garcia said. “We all sort of get painted with the same broad brush, and that is not something we have been happy about.”

Mike Belote, legislative advocate for the California Escrow Association (CEA), a trade group representing all escrow practitioners, agreed HCG Drops change is needed, but said the discussion has been simmering for 25 years without coming to a boiling point.

“We think if you were creating an escrow regulation system from scratch, you wouldn’t do it this way,” Belote said. “Everyone understands it’s a weird system we have www.advanceloan.net now, but it’s been this way for over 50 years. The question is, how do you conform all of that if there is no political will to do that?”

Winds of change

It’s no secret that for more than a year, the DOI has been focused on implementing regulations to drastically reduce title insurance e cigarette premiums and escrow rates by $1 billion annually. The DOI has been colorful in its depiction of the title insurance industry as “a system rife with illegal kickbacks and gratuities,” and the department was generous enough with its brush to paint the numero verde escrow industry as “middlemen” who only further drive up prices for consumers.

This included DOC licensees, who were baffled that they were lumped into a regulation proposed by a regulatory authority other than their own. The EIC spent most of last year vertical filing cabinet fighting the proposal — and standing beside the group was the California Land Title Association (CLTA), which linked arms with the EIC on many occasions, including cheap life cover a contentious day-long DOI hearing last August.

Bridges built and alliances formed, the EIC is hopeful it will be able to bring the CLTA, the California Association of Mortgage Brokers (CAMB) and the California Association of Realtors (CAR) together to hash out a proposal in time to introduce legislation in satellite direct tv the 2008 session. While details are still sketchy at this point, Garcia said one suggestion is to bring all escrow providers under the DOC’s jurisdiction.

“Logistically speaking, all of the people who know escrow best are at the Department of Corporations,” Garcia said. “But again, the devil’s in the details. I couldn’t give any commitment on fashion merchandising how that might look in the end. Of course, it will have to be done collaboratively because if the other industries are flat-out opposed to it, it would obviously be a lot more difficult to do.”

Craig Page, executive vice president and counsel of the CLTA, and Jack Williams, president of CAMB’s executive board, both link wheel service said their groups are open to the discussion, but as pen hasn’t yet been put to paper, they declined to state formal opinions on the proposal. Garcia said the DOC and DOI have also been receptive to initial talks.

CAR and the DRE, which historically have been the most resistant to the idea, did not respond to a request for comment Life Insurance Quotes by press time.

“The process of going through the Department of Insurance hearings really brought home to us once again that this is a very fractionated and Free Sports Picks confusing process,” Garcia said. “2007 is paving the way. We’re pleasantly surprised by the response we have received so far.”

Real estate investors will spend a large sum of money in order to purchase rental properties. This holds true whether you purchase the property for all cash or if you get bedroom furniture a loan after putting down a percentage of the purchase price. Landlords purchase rental properties so that they can collect rents from tenants in hopes that the rents will cover the cost of the mortgage payment each month. If the rental income exceeds the mortgage payment, then pest control sydney the landlord will have positive cash flow. The quickest way to derail your plans as a landlord is to run afoul of the laws covering security deposit.

Escrow Account
The first step is to determine whether or not you are required to put security deposits into a separate escrow account. The answer to this question will be determined by locksmith Brisbane your state’s law. In my state there are different rules on whether or not you are required to have a separate escrow account. If you are managing your own property and you have less than 10 rental units, you are not required to have a separate escrow account. Once you exceed 10 rental units that you manage yourself, you are required to have your own escrow account. Anyone that manages properties for somebody else regardless of the number of properties they manager is required to have a separate escrow account.

Escrow Account Notification
If the state law requires you to have a separate escrow account, you are required by law to give the account number to your tenants. The iphone 5 easiest way to provide this account information is to include a paragraph in your standard lease agreement that gives the bank name and the account number.

If you manage your own properties and you buy your 10th property, you are required to notify all your existing tenants that you now have an escrow account. Since this occurs cash advance in the middle of their existing lease you do not have the information in their current lease. You will need to send all your tenants a letter detailing the bank name, the account number and that you have now established an escrow account due to the law requirements. I would recommend disabled dating sending this letter certified mail with return receipt request. You do this so that you can prove that you notified the existing tenants if you need to at a later date.

State law is very clear on the requirements for security deposits. If you violate the law you could be held responsible Mongoose Bikes for treble the amount of the security deposit.

An escrow is a legal arrangement which assists parties in the performance of contracts by provision of a safe, third party, “holding service”.

An escrow agreement has three parties: a “depositor”, an “escrow agent” and a “beneficiary”. In the typical escrow, the depositor zenerx is required to entrust money or property with an escrow agent. The escrow agent holds the escrow deposit until it can be released to the beneficiary upon the happening of some future event, or the performance of some condition under the contractual agreement between the depositor and the beneficiary.

A common example involves the deposit made in the purchase and sale of property where the contract may require that the buyer’s best wrinkle cream deposit be paid to the buyers (or seller’s) lawyer, to be held in escrow.

In this example, the buyer is the depositor, and the seller is the Tampa DUI Attorney beneficiary. The buyer’s or seller’s lawyer is the escrow agent, who undertakes to safeguard the deposit in a special bank account until the contract has been performed, or is cancelled by the buyer and seller.

If the purchase event planning companies goes forward as planned, the agent will release the down payment to the seller at the completion of the deal. If the buyer and seller agree to cancel their contract, the agent is usually required to return the down payment to the buyer, depending root cause analysis on the terms of the agreement.

Are Written Escrow Agreements Required?

Not in all cases. But someone considering a formal escrow transaction utilizing a professional escrow agent should insist that the escrow agreement be in writing, and be reviewed by a lawyer. Every agreement should contain provisions which set forth:
the names and addresses of the depositor, the agent and the beneficiary;
the amount of the escrow deposit
the name and address reverse phone lookup of the bank where money will be deposited, and the name and number of the bank account;
whether the agent is required to use an interest-bearing account, and how the interest earned on the deposit will be distributed the Cheap Car Insurance conditions that must occur or be performed before the agent can release the escrow fund;
time limits for the performance of these conditions;
the names and addresses of all persons who taxi sales will be paid the funds; and
the duties of the agent in the event the conditions of the escrow agreement cannot be met.

It is also good practice for the parties, or their lawyers, to require a copy of the written agreement, and periodic status ralph lauren polos reports from the agent regarding the current balance in the account, if any, and its location.

Who Does an Escrow Agent Work For?

A person who serves as an escrow agent is a fiduciary, with duties to all parties who have an interest in the escrow property. The most important miracle mineral supplement duty is to safeguard the funds and it must be deposited in a special bank account which will be separate from the agent’s own personal and business accounts.

An agent should provide the parties with a receipt for the escrow property, a copy of the escrow agreement and keep complete and accurate gaskets records. Depositors and beneficiaries have the right to a full accounting of the agent’s management of the escrow property.

An agent has the legal duty to comply strictly with the terms and conditions of the escrow agreement. Escrow property Stairlifts cannot be delivered to anyone, except in accordance with the provisions in the escrow agreement.

Are Escrow Agents Paid for their Services?

Agents can serve with or without compensation. If an agent expects to be paid for administering an escrow account or property, the matter of fees selection criteria and reimbursement of expenses should be clearly set out in the agreement.

Can Escrow Agents Assert Liens Against Escrow Property?

No. An agent can have no claim on the deposit for services rendered, unless the escrow agreement provides otherwise. The agent is simply mother of the bride outfits a custodian of the escrow property, which must be paid out as the escrow agreement provides.

Are Interest-Bearing Accounts Required for Escrow Deposits?

Not in all Office Furniture cases, but escrow agreements should require interest-bearing accounts when funds can generate significant interest for one or more of the parties.

Can Escrow Agents Keep Bank Interest?

No, unless the escrow agreement provides otherwise. All interest that is earned on an escrow deposit should be paid out in accordance with locksmiths melbourne the escrow agreement, or to the party whose money generated the interest.

Money in escrow is “dead money”. It doesn’t earn interest for you and it doesn’t reduce your mortgage interest payments. Therefore every cent in wedding weight loss your escrow account is costing you money. Make sure there is no more tied up in escrow than there needs to be!

Here is a brief summary of what lenders can and cannot do regarding escrow. I’ll also explain how to check your own Regcure escrow account to make sure you are not paying too much.

State laws vary; you should consult your own attorney to determine what your local laws allow.

The way lenders handle недвижимость в Германии escrow is regulated by the Federal Real Estate
Settlement Procedures Act, which applies to all “federally related mortgage loans”.

Unless local law says otherwise, at settlement the lender can require
a borrower breastfeeding dress to deposit funds in an escrow account set up for the payment of taxes or insurance premiums. The sum deposited cannot exceed the actual amount of the taxes and premiums, plus one-sixth of their estimated total.

If the taxes come due in January and you are settling in July, your first month’s payment will be due Sept. 1. For September, October, November and December, you will make four months’ escrow payments. Since the lender will require a full webhosting year’s payment in January, and at that time only four months’ payments will be in escrow, the lender can escrow eight months at settlement, plus one-sixth of the total amount, which amounts to an additional two chicken coops months’ worth of escrow.

Thus, at settlement, do not be surprised if the lender requires you to
pay 10 months’ tax payments into escrow. These Kerrie Kelso funds are held by the lender and paid when the taxes come due.

The rules apply until you pay off your loan. In other words, the lender can hold two additional months’ escrow, so that if you are delinquent in one or two monthly state flags for sale payments, the lender will still have sufficient funds.

At least once a year, the lender that services your loan must send you
a statement mailing lists clearly itemizing “the amount of the borrower’s current monthly payment, the portion of the monthly payment being placed in the escrow account, the total amount paid into the escrow account during the period, the total amount paid out of the escrow account during the period for taxes, insurance premiums . . . (as separately identified) and the balance in the 7 passenger vehicle escrow account at the conclusion of the period.”

When you receive this statement, you should review it carefully. Confirm with your taxing authority and your insurance company exactly when the payment is due and the amount of the payment. Use a calculator to determine whether the solar power lender has properly calculated the amount of the escrow. Congressional testimony has uncovered many errors made by mortgage lenders.

There are also many cases in which lenders fail to pay the real estate tax on time – or at all. Often, the first time that homeowners learn of this non payment Engagement ring settings is when they receive a notice of tax sale from the jurisdiction where their property is located.

If you are required to escrow for taxes and insurance it is a very good idea to write to your lender annually, demanding refrigerator water filters proof of payment of the real estate taxes and insurance premiums. If the lender does not respond promptly, contact your taxing authority to confirm payment of the taxes, and complain about the lack of response to your state or local financial regulatory authority.

Home owners who have 20% or more equity in their property – that is, if they borrow or refinance 80% or less than the value of the property – have the right to best mortgage rates receive a notice from the lender that
they may pay their own taxes and insurance without escrow. This is a wise thing to do as your money is better off working for GERD Diet you than sitting in a non interest bearing escrow account. This is of course
providing that you have the financial discipline to have the funds available when it comes time to pay your taxes and insurance!

WARNING: Some lenders try to increase the mortgage rate when the borrower opts to avoid escrow. You should talk to your attorney who will likely advise rugs you it is illegal for the lender to do this. Again, MAKE THE EFFORT. It can be worth a great deal of money to you in the long term.

Unfortunately, escrow for taxes is a way of life in the mortgage industry. However, as a borrower, you have the right to review and analyze – and complain if you find druckmaschinen service that your escrowed funds are not being handled properly. After all, this money belongs to you until it is paid to the taxing authority or the insurance company.

You can easily check your own escrow account.

To determine whether your escrow account balance is excessive,
divide all samsung rv510 annual expenses paid out of that account by 12.

For example, if your annual expenses are $1,200, the lender would need $100 a month for payments.

If your monthly escrow payment is significantly higher than $100, the lender may be overcharging. Some lenders establish Building Inspections Melbourne separate escrow accounts for each item to be paid, rather than making all payments out of the same fund. But regardless of the method used, at some point in the year, there should be no more than two times the monthly payment in the account (in the above example there should be no more than $200 in the paintball shop account for at least one month of the year), or a smaller amount if the mortgage contract specifies one.

Should you find that you are being excessively charged you need to contact your lender for a satisfactory explanation digital signage software because THIS IS COSTING YOU MONEY.

$500 in your escrow account is $500 that is not coming off your mortgage. You are paying interest on this which over the years can compound out to significant amounts of money. In fact over a 30 year loan at 8% this $500 will have cost you $5,431.92 in additional interest. Is that facebook banners worth fighting for?

In real estate investing the usual contractual binder is an escrow deposit. Most real estate purchase and sale agreements Coupons for Olive Garden do not stipulate a required escrow deposit but instead have a blank line to be filled in by the seller or the buyer.

If the buyer is making the offer and filling out the contract, he would be filling in this escrow amount. Either way, if something happens where the buyer doesn’t close, the seller should get the escrow deposit as remuneration for the failed transaction. However, this is not always the case because the escrow agent should not release the escrow unless both the buyer and seller sign an appropriate Release of Escrow form.

Disgruntled buyers seldom sign this Release because they feel they had a valid reason not to purchase the property, such as a better one came along, they didn’t like something in the neighborhood, inspection report, and general buyer’s remorse and simply because they believe they didn’t want to close. Whatever the reason, if the contract is written properly and the inspection period has passed, the buyer how to lose weight should lose his deposit if he doesn’t come to closing.

Even if the buyer is right for the reason he isn’t closing, the seller has wasted time and carrying costs for the property while he has waited for the buyer to close and he has a real monetary loss. Therefore, the seller feels entitled to the escrow deposit. Whichever party is right there are important issues that should be resolved at the time the contract is written. These include how to get the escrow deposit if the buyer or seller defaults because the closing agent won’t release it automatically.

Because closing agents and real estate attorneys usually hold these escrow deposits, they have to make a decision as to whether or not the escrow should be released. The issue is that they are interpreting contract law, which should be left to the courts. By making a decision to give the seller or the buyer the escrow deposit, they open themselves to a potentially costly law suit. So their usual default mode is to give neither party the escrow and allow the parties to settle the argument between themselves or in court.

This potential problem can go on for a long time with the usual solution being the escrow deposit is split equally between the parties in exchange for the Release form being signed. Sometimes both or one party is so stubborn that nothing happens and the escrow stays in the attorney’s account virtually forever until a set time limit expires as preset by the state.

If you are a seller, the easiest way to overcome this issue is to put a simple cause in your contract that directs the closing agent and gives him authority, without further written acknowledgement, to disburse the escrow if the closing doesn’t take place. It should say something to the effect that if the buyer doesn’t close timely, or on or before a certain date, that the seller will receive the deposit and the buyer hereby acknowledges that he is giving the closing agent the immediate authorization to release the escrow.

Likewise, if the seller does not close timely, the seller hereby authorizes the closing agent to immediately release the escrow to the buyer. Ask your closing agent what exact language he prefers and don’t be surprised if he is surprised at your question. Ask him to make up the clauses or addendum so you have it ahead of time.

Likely the closing agent will draft a one or more page document for the seller and buyer to sign. This will work, but ask him to reduce it to three or four sentences so it can be embedded in your contract clauses section and not a full page addition. The idea isn’t to save trees, it’s to make it as innocuous to the seller or buyer as possible. This provision of the contract can always be changed if both parties agree in writing.

In summary, a little planning in the beginning of a real estate investor’s career can make his life much easier and more profitable than learning by experience. The most frequent time a buyer defaults is when buyer relies on getting a mortgage to close, hard money or conventional, and the lender changes their mind. This is not the seller’s fault and he should get the escrow for having to take the property off the market and lose carrying costs while he has to find another buyer. The buyer likewise thinks it isn’t his fault as the hard money lender or his mortgage broker said he would fund the property before he signed the contract. So who is right doesn’t matter, only who did the contracting properly!

The 2008 IC3 report on cyber crime is just out, and the news is not good: cyber crime is up again. This, of course, is hardly surprising seeing as the cyber criminal is getting smarter, and more numerous, by the day; while law enforcement continues to play catch-up.

What is a little surprising, however, is that Internet Auction Fraud-which was the most reported online crime for the last two years-no longer heads the pack, though at 25.5% of all reports, it runs a close second; instead, the most reported online crime for 2008 is Non-Delivery of Merchandise and/or Payment, which comprises 32.9% of all reported instances of internet fraud.

The IC3

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) began operating on May 8, of 2000, as the Internet Fraud Complaint Center-a partnership between the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)-to serve as a vehicle to receive, process, and refer cyber crime complaints.

IC3 was intended for and continues to serve the broader law enforcement community, including federal, state, and local agencies, and since its inception, IC3 has received complaints running the full gamut of cyber crimes, including online fraud (in its many forms), intellectual property rights matters, computer intrusions (hacking), economic espionage (theft of trade secrets), child pornography, international money laundering, identity theft, and a growing list of additional cyber crimes.

The 2008 Internet Crime Report is its eighth edition.

The Numbers

From January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2008, IC3 received 275,284 online complaints. This is a (33.1%) increase over 2007, which saw 206,884 online complaints.

Of all complaints received, IC3 referred 72,940 of them to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies around the country for further consideration. The vast majority of these cases was of a fraudulent nature and involved a financial loss on the part of the complainant.

The total reported dollar loss from all referred cases of fraud was $264.6 million with a median dollar loss of $931.00 per complaint. This is up from $239.1 million in total reported losses in 2007. Other significant findings related to an analysis of referrals include:

Non-Delivery

Non-delivered merchandise and/or payment was, by far, the most reported offense, comprising 32.9% of referred complaints-this is a 32.1% increase from the 2007 levels of non-delivery of merchandise and/or payment reported to IC3.

Internet Auction Fraud and Other Scams

Internet auction fraud accounted for 25.5% of referred complaints. Credit/debit card fraud made up 9.0% of referred complaints. Confidence fraud, computer fraud, check fraud, and Nigerian letter fraud round out the top seven categories of complaints referred to law enforcement during the year.

Access Method

E-mail (74.0%) and WebPages (28.9%) were the two primary channels over which the fraudulent contact took place.

A Closer Look at Non-Delivery

Doing the non-delivery math paints an unpleasant picture:

Since Non-Delivery constitutes 32.9% of the 275,284 reported cyber crimes in 2008, this means we saw 90,568 reported non-delivery cases. Now, since according to the National White Collar Crime Center’s August 2005 report, The National Public Survey on White Collar Crime, only one cyber crime in seven is actually reported to police or a regulatory agency, we will have to multiply this number by seven to get an accurate count of perpetrated non-delivery crimes for 2008, which ends us up with 633,976.

This in turn means that 1,736 such crimes occur every day, or 72 ever hour, 24/7.

Or, to put it in another light, here in the United States, every minute of ever day (24/7), a product is fraudulently sold (and gullibly purchased and paid for) online.

Not a laughing matter.

The Escrow Process

Both Buyer and Seller deserve the assurance that no funds or property will change hands until all of the instructions in the Purchase Contract have been satisfied. The Realtor submits Buyers and Sellers signed documents and Buyer’s deposit money to be held by an independent neutral third party (Escrow). After the conditions agreed upon by both Buyer and Seller (in the Purchase Contract) are satisfied, Escrow then distributes the documents and the funds.

The escrow holder is an independent neutral third party; works for both the Buyer and the Seller, and is authorized to follow the specific written instructions provided by both parties. Escrow functions:

Receives and deposits (into escrow’s account) Buyer’s initial deposit and prepares escrow package. Requests “demands” (pay-off statements) from existing lenders and/or lien holders. Obtains Seller’s notarized signature on grant deed. Safeguards grant deed until all terms and conditions are met and Buyer’s remaining certified funds are on deposit. Orders title search and receives and distributes preliminary title report. Calculates prorations pertaining to property taxes, rents, insurance, interest, and other expenses as required.

Coordinates with Buyer’s lender throughout the escrow process. Orders and processes Buyer’s loan documents. Coordinates Buyer’s signing of loan documents and their return to Buyer’s lender. Receives Buyer’s final down payment funds and coordinates funding with Buyer’s lender.

Orders recordation of grant deed conveying title to Buyer and distributes all funds: pays-off existing loans; pays other required costs, such as termite completion, home protection policy; etc. Releases net proceeds to Seller.

Simultaneously, the Buyer and the Buyer’s lender are engaged with the loan approval process. Lender duties:

Orders a credit report and other credit documentation as required (mortgage ratings, landlord ratings). Reviews the Buyer’s credit and when necessary obtains satisfactory explanations from the Buyer regarding any negative credit history. Verifies the Buyer’s sources of income. Verifies that the Buyer has adequate liquid funds for down payment, closing costs, and reserves. Requests an appraisal of the property, and verifies that the property’s value is equal to the contract sales price.

Submits the loan to for final approval.

Coordinates delivery of the Buyer’s loan documents to the escrow officer.
And in the meantime… While the escrow officer, lender, and Buyer are diligently working, the Seller and the Listing Agent also have responsibilities:

Numerous disclosures required by law need to be made by the Seller and the Listing Agent and provided to the buyer.

Provide escrow officer information on existing loans to check against title search findings.

Make the home available for physical inspection and other trades people as required by the purchase contract, such as licensed Termite Company and lender’s appraiser.

Make any repairs agreed upon in purchase contract, or as required by local ordinance (water heater strapping, smoke detectors, etc.).

In order for your escrow to proceed smoothly, your Realtor’s job is to coordinate and oversee the above chain of events. Similar to dominos – each event must occur in a timely fashion. You need an experienced Realtor because delays in any of these events may result in the postponement of escrow’s scheduled closing date.