§ 2214. Trust and escrow accounts
(a) Every real estate broker, within five banking days, shall deposit in a trust or escrow
account in a bank or other financial institution licensed to do business in this State
all earnest money and contract deposits held by him or her as a real estate broker
in which the clients or other persons with whom the broker is dealing have an interest.
Trust and escrow accounts shall be maintained separate and apart from a broker’s individual
or office account. The broker shall maintain at the broker’s usual place of business,
books, records, contracts, and other documents pertinent to or relating to the trust
or escrow account and monies therein, which shall be open for inspection by the Commission
and its duly authorized agents at the broker’s usual place of business during regular
business hours. The broker shall notify the Commission, within 10 days after opening
any trust or escrow account, of the bank or other financial institution in which the
account is located.
(b) If a deposit is reasonably expected to earn a substantial amount of interest, the
broker shall, at the request of the person or persons making the deposit, place the
deposit in an individual interest-bearing trust or escrow account for the benefit
of the beneficial owner. In regard to individual interest-bearing trust and escrow
accounts:
(1) Unless otherwise agreed to in writing by all parties, the interest earned shall be
applied to the purchase price due from the buyer if the sale is consummated, shall
be returned to the buyer if the deposit is returned to the buyer, and shall be payable
to the seller if the buyer defaults. Contracts shall carry this language conspicuously
above the signature lines.
(2) No checks shall be drawn against uncollected deposits in the account.
(3) None of the contract deposits shall be withdrawn until the contract has been terminated
by performance, or by operation of its own terms, or by agreement in writing between
all parties involved in the contract, or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(c) If a deposit is not reasonably expected to earn a substantial amount of interest,
the broker shall place the deposit in a pooled interest-bearing trust or escrow account
and direct that the interest be remitted to the Vermont Housing Finance Agency in
accordance with the provisions of 8 V.S.A. § 14210.
(d) The broker shall inform the depositor whether funds are deposited into an individual
account pursuant to subsection (b) of this section or in a pooled account pursuant
to subsection (c) of this section. The broker shall retain a written statement of
this disclosure signed by the beneficial owner of the account. (Added 1969, No. 283 (Adj. Sess.), § 12; amended 1985, No. 6, § 1; 1991, No. 86, § 4, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; 1999, No. 153 (Adj. Sess.), § 25, eff. Jan. 1, 2001; 2013, No. 138 (Adj. Sess.), § 14.)