WAC 460-33A-055   Escrow account.  (1) All funds received from lenders or investors to purchase mortgage paper securities shall be deposited within forty-eight hours of receipt in an escrow account acceptable to the director. The escrow account shall be maintained in a financial institution as set forth in WAC 460-33A-015(6), with an escrow agent registered under chapter 18.44 RCW, or with some other independent escrow agent acceptable to the director. The entity acting as the escrow agent must be independently audited or examined, in a manner acceptable to the director, on a regular basis. All checks by which purchases or investments are made shall be made payable to the escrow account. All necessary disbursements shall be made from the escrow account. No person acting as a mortgage broker-dealer or its agent shall accept any purchase or investment funds for mortgage paper securities in advance of the time necessary to fund the loan transaction. No such fund shall be maintained in such account for longer than sixty days without disbursing the funds and the escrow agreement must provide that funds maintained in such account shall be returned to the investor on the sixty-first day from deposit in the account. No interest earned on escrow account funds shall be paid to the mortgage broker-dealer or its affiliates. The escrow agreement must provide that funds may be disbursed from the escrow account only to a specific loan escrow, where funds will be disbursed only upon closing and recordation, or to return the funds to the lenders or investors.

     (2) The escrow agreements shall provide that the funds will not be subject to the mortgage broker-dealer's creditors.

     (3) The account shall be subject to an audit at any reasonable time by the securities division.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 21.20.450. 01-23-002, § 460-33A-055, filed 11/7/01, effective 12/8/01. Statutory Authority: RCW 21.20.045. 92-18-009, § 460-33A-055, filed 8/21/92, effective 9/21/92. Statutory Authority: RCW 21.20.450. 89-17-078 (Order SDO-124-89), § 460-33A-055, filed 8/17/89, effective 9/17/89. Statutory Authority: RCW 21.20.250 and 21.20.450. 86-21-107 (Order SDO-140-86), § 460-33A-055, filed 10/20/86. Statutory Authority: RCW 21.20.450. 83-03-025 (Order SDO-7-83), § 460-33A-055, filed 1/13/83.]