|
|
Good Funds Legislation Changes
On April 6, 2017, changes to Ohio's "Good Funds" law go into effect. Recent issues with fraudulent checks prompted the Ohio Land Title Association to initiate amendments to the "Good Funds" law to prohibit certain types of funds from being accepted.
The new legislation allows for the following sources for funds:
- electronically transferred funds or wire transfers;
- cash, personal or business checks, certified checks, money order that do not exceed an aggregate amount of $1000.00;
- Checks drawn on a real estate brokerage firm trust account; and
- Government checks issued by the U.S., the State of Ohio or instrumentality or political subdivision of the U.S. or State.
These will be the ONLY methods in which we are able to accept funds.
In a transaction, should the earnest money exceeds $1,000, in an effort to keep transactions moving, we are recommending that the real estate agency accept the earnest money deposits from their buyers and that they deposit those funds into the Realtor's Trust account. The new law allows us to accept an earnest money check drawn on a real estate broker's trust account (as described in ORC 4735.18(A)(26)) and it may be in the form of a business check for any amount.
Unfortunately, both wire and cyber fraud have also become prevalent throughout the real estate industry, and even though we have a secure system in place to guard against such attacks, we are informing our customers of the potential for fraud. Do not ever rely on third parties to provide information when sending or receiving wires. Instructions regarding wires should be directly between the title company and the customer. Any change in wire instructions (for both wires going out or wires coming in) need to come directly from the source that initiated the original wire transfer instructions.
Please protect against wire fraud and contact your escrow officer directly if you receive notice of any change in wire instructions.
|
Beware of this Deed Scam After Transferring Property 
Within 8-10 weeks of transferring property, homeowners are receiving a notice in the mail titled, Recorded Deed Notice. This letter claims that you need a copy of your deed and a property assessment profile. The fee for this is $83.00. Here is an example of one of the mailed letters. Your buyers will receive their deed and owner's policy from NorthStar Title within 4-6 weeks after title transfers. Also, copies of deeds are available online in most counties free of charge. Please warn your buyers of this scam.
|
|
|
|
NorthStar Title Services, LLC
1406 West 6th Street
Suite 400
Cleveland, OH 44113
Phone: 216.623.3655
Fax: 800.953.4026
www.nstitle.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
