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The Earnest Money Check
The times they are a changing.
Personally, I don’t see any reason why anyone except the closing agent, should view my buyer client’s personal check. A “qualified reperesentative” from the escrow company, picks up the check and gives me a receipt for it. When they deposit the check at escrow, I get a second receipt showing the funds were deposited.
When the seller’s agent wants “a copy of the Earnest Money check”, I give them a copy of the “Deposit Receipt” instead. In my mind this is proof enough that the Earnest Money is on deposit where it needs to be, with the closing agent. I received a fax last week from a seller’s agent saying “My company needs the buyer’s account number from the bottom of the Earnest Money check”. Isn’t this an outdated policy? Why do they need my client’s personal checking account number? And why do I care about the internal policies of a company I am not associated with?
When I represent the buyer, I don’t really care what the “policy” of the seller’s agent’s company is. When I represent the seller, I don’t really care what the “policy” of the buyer agent’s company is. If a “deposit receipt” that contains NO personal information of the buyer’s account is good enough for the DOL, and it is, then it should be good enough for all of the real estate companies.
Protecting my client’s information against identity theft and fraud, is my only concern, once complying with the State’s requirements. Multiple copies of the personal check of the buyer floating around in everyone’s files, is a policy to be changed…not complied with for the sake of making someone’s little checklist, designed in the dark ages, complete.
Posted: May 13th, 2006 under General Real Estate.
Tags: earnest-money, identity-theft
About the Author: Ardell DellaLoggia
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Comments
2.
Comment
from Eric D.
Time May 13, 2006 at 3:12 pm
Sounds like either a bad policy or a scam to me. You also have to wonder about these fly-by-night loan companies. You sure give a lot of information to me when you apply for a loan (i.e. everything). A scam artist could probably set up a fake one, and get all of someone’s information and do a lot of damage.
3.
Comment
from Robert Smith
Time May 15, 2006 at 3:22 pm
Ardell,
what drives me crazy is all the agents who think that a copy of the EM check qualifies as a receipt. ARGGHHH. I don’t need a copy of your buyers check, just the receipt which (as Ardell pointed out) is what is required by the Department of Licensing.
4.
Comment
from Ardell DellaLoggia
Time May 15, 2006 at 7:43 pm
A lender friend of ours just had someone she paid to do computer work by check, pay an $1,800 Quest bill using an E-Check from her account. I really don’t think we should pass around buyer client’s personal checks anymore, like we used to do in the old days.
Hey, Tim the Escrow Dude, When I wouldn’t give her a copy of my client’s check, she called escrow to get a copy. Can escrow give a copy of the buyer’s check to the seller’s agent without the buyer’s permission?
1. Comment from rdb
Time May 13, 2006 at 9:56 am
Ardell,
Great point!
Protect your clients privacy.
If you think that’s scary, you should see all the personal doccumentation that’s necessary to purchase a Co-op in NYC and how many eyeballs view that information. Co-op Board Package requirements include complete financial statements including items such as bank statements, tax returns & W-2’s. Many boards require more information than most lenders do.
I guess from a purchasers point of view the ultimate questions are, “how is my personal information being protected” and “what happens to all copies of my personal information after the board interview process”?
-rdb