Wash. Admin. Code § 208-680-560 - What requirements must I follow when disbursing funds or other things of value?
(1) The escrow
agent must disburse funds as set forth in the escrow instructions or collection
agreement. Not doing so is a violation of
RCW
18.44.430(1)(e). Funds and
other items or documents must be paid and/or disbursed immediately upon closing
of the transaction or as specifically agreed to in writing by the principal
parties, and all funds must be disbursed in compliance with
RCW
18.44.400(3) and these
rules.
(2)
(a) Upon written notice from any principal
party that the ownership of the funds is in dispute or is unclear based on the
written agreements of the parties, the escrow agent must hold such funds until
it receives written notice from all principal parties that the dispute has been
resolved. In lieu of holding such funds, the escrow agent may interplead the
funds into a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to
chapter
4.08 RCW.
(b) For purposes of complying with (a) of
this subsection, escrow agents should construe "written notice from any
principal party that the ownership of the funds is in dispute" broadly so that
many various written forms evidencing one party's or the other's belief in
ownership of the subject funds is included.
(c) So too should the escrow agent construe
"written demand" in
RCW
64.04.220(2) broadly to
include various forms of written correspondence and documents.
(d) Upon notification of a dispute between
the principal parties, the department may, at its discretion, order the escrow
agent to interplead the funds into a court of competent jurisdiction. If the
department orders an escrow agent to interplead funds, the escrow agent may
deduct only the actual costs of interpleading from the escrow funds.
(3) Except as provided otherwise
in this section, at no time may an escrow agent disburse or delay the
disbursement of funds without the written consent of the principal parties
unless the delay is necessary to ensure the funds being disbursed are good
funds.
(4) See also WAC
208-680-410(1), (7), (11), and
(16).
Notes
Statutory Authority: RCW 43.320.040 and chapter 18.44 RCW (as amended by 2010 c 34). 10-20-124, § 208-680-560, filed 10/5/10, effective 11/5/10.
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.