It is a violation of
this chapter for any escrow agent, controlling person, officer,
designated escrow officer, independent contractor, employee of an
escrow business, or other person subject to this chapter to:
(1) Directly or indirectly employ any scheme, device, or
artifice to defraud or mislead borrowers or lenders or to defraud
any person;
(2) Directly or indirectly engage in any unfair or deceptive
practice toward any person;
(3) Directly or indirectly obtain property by fraud or
misrepresentation;
(4) Knowingly make, publish, or disseminate any false,
deceptive, or misleading information in the conduct of the
business of escrow, or relative to the business of escrow or
relative to any person engaged therein;
(5) Knowingly receive or take possession for personal use of
any property of any escrow business, other than in payment
authorized by this chapter, and with intent to defraud, omit to
make, or cause or direct to be made, a full and true entry
thereof in the books and accounts of the business;
(6) Make or concur in making any false entry, or omit or
concur in omitting to make any material entry, in its books or
accounts;
(7) Knowingly make or publish, or concur in making or
publishing any written report, exhibit, or statement of its
affairs or pecuniary condition containing any material statement
which is false, or omit or concur in omitting any statement
required by law to be contained therein;
(8) Willfully fail to make any proper entry in the books of
the escrow business as required by law;
(9) Fail to disclose in a timely manner to the other
officers, directors, controlling persons, designated escrow
officer, or other licensed escrow officers the receipt of service
of a notice of an application for an injunction or other legal
process affecting the property or business of an escrow agent,
including in the case of a licensed escrow agent an order to
cease and desist or other order of the director;
(10) Fail to make any report or statement lawfully required
by the director or other public official;
(11) Fail to comply with any requirement of any applicable
federal or state act including the truth-in-lending act, 15
U.S.C. Sec. 1601 et seq. and Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. Sec. 226;
the real estate settlement procedures act, 12 U.S.C. Sec. 2601 et
seq. and Regulation X, 24 C.F.R. Sec. 3500; the equal credit
opportunity act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1691 et seq. and Regulation B,
Sec. 202.9, 202.11, and 202.12; Title V, Subtitle A of the
financial modernization act of 1999 (known as the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley act), 12 U.S.C. Secs. 6801-6809; the federal
trade commission's privacy rules, 16 C.F.R. Secs. 313-314,
mandated by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley act; as these acts existed on
January 1, 2007, or such subsequent date as may be provided by
the department by rule, or any other applicable escrow activities
covered by the acts; or
(12) Collecting [Collect] a fee for tracking unclaimed funds
unless it is a bona fide out-of-pocket expense or converting
[convert] unclaimed funds for personal use.
[2010 c 34 § 8; 1999 c 30 § 9.]