Tag Archives: Banking

Where’s My Money?!?

Posted on January 23, 2020 | Leave a comment

wirexferA common source of frustration at the closing table with lender involved deals is “waiting for funding.” To the average customer, when they think of wiring money, they assume it happens at the speed of light. It doesn’t.

The reasons buyers go first at the closing table is that some lenders may require the closing agent to fax/email signed documents so they can review and approve the signed documents before they will release the buyer’s funds. This is where patience is needed.

For some lenders, this can take 30-minutes after everyone has signed the documents at the closing table. Once the lender sends the wire, the money can take another 30-minutes to 3-hours to get to the closing agent’s bank. From there, seller’s proceeds, commission checks, payoffs, etc can then move forward.

If the wire from the lender is sent after 2-pm, sometimes funds are not received until the following day. Especially on Fridays this can cause a lot of avoidable points of friction.

A closing is not complete until the seller received their money, i.e. the closing agent’s bank receives the buyer’s funds.

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Know Your Nonpublic Personal Information Basics

Posted on May 19, 2015 | Leave a comment

Personal-Information4One of the growing areas of concern for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is in protecting the consumer’s Nonpublic Personal Information (NPI).

NPI has always been a sensitive area, and in the era of identification fraud, the importance of protecting this information continues to grow.

If you have not already, you will see more and more direction on what needs to be done to protect the NPI that you collect in the course of doing business. As with most things, the first step is to know exactly what is defined as NPI.

Fifth Third Bank recently defined NPI for their 3rd party service providers, and their definition works very well for this purpose. Modifying their definition slightly for our purposes, here is a solid working definition for NPI:

Any information that (a) relates to any Consumer (defined by the CFPB as anyone obtaining a product or service from an institution involved in a transaction, i.e. borrower); (b) relates to, or derives from, any business transaction with any Consumer; or (c) is a list, description or other grouping of Consumers involved in business transactions.

NPI shall include, but is not limited to, application information, medical information, account information, Consumer names & addresses, Consumer report information, and the mere fact that an individual is or was a Customer of the institution involved in the transaction.

One way we are taking steps to further protect the consumer will be in the utilization of secure emails and narrowing who does and does not receive some information involving in the transaction – specifically information about a buyer.

The steps that the mortgage, title and real estate industries are taking to protect NPI may require an extra step and a few minutes of time, but they are worth it as they are all focused on protecting the Consumer.

A protected Consumer is a happy Consumer. A happy Consumer produces … more business!!

You can get a PDF of this Title Tip here.

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Playing Three-card Monte with Wires Will Ruin Your Day

Posted on January 5, 2015 | Leave a comment

wire-transfer-scamSome scams never go away, and lately an “oldie but not-so-goodie” has reared its head once again.

This scheme isn’t just an email scheme, it can come by phone or even face to face, so the key is to listen for certain key words and phrases that serve as warning signs.

The pattern usually starts with contact from someone who is allegedly a lender, requesting that a significant amount of money be held in escrow related to a possible purchase.

The scammer states that certain “pre-closing disbursements” will have to be made. That is the key phrase to listen for, “pre-closing disbursements.” When you hear that, the red light above your desk should start flashing, and the storm shutters should start to close around your office.

What the scammer wants to take place is for the deposit wire to be accepted and subsequent “pre-closing disbursements” to be made. Once that is done, the initial wire would be recalled and then … whoever held the escrow account agent would be left liable for the amount of those “pre-closing disbursements.”

In all transactions, but especially ones that seem to have non-standard money transfers involved, make sure you independently verify the identities of any parties from whom you accept funds and/or instructions for disbursements. Be especially mindful when instructions are changed during the course of transactions, and/or when international wires are involved.

Again, any requests for pre-closing disbursements should be met with great caution and if made should be taken as a sign to double check all the contact information you have.

When in doubt, give us a call.

For a PDF of this title tip, click here.

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Where is my money?!?

Posted on January 1, 2014 | Leave a comment

bankwiretransferWhen a customer elects to have their proceeds from a sale wired to them instead of receiving a check, it is helpful to make sure they understand how the process will work for their closing. There are a few misconceptions out there on how the process works, but a review of these fundamental points should help everyone have a mutual set of expectations.

First, until the buyer’s funds clear, proceeds from the sale cannot be distributed. That is true for checks or wires. Depending on the details of the incoming funds from the buyer, there may be delays with incoming funds to the closing table. Our Closer is the best source to know the timeline for that specific closing, and should always be the first person you ask.

Some sellers are under the impression that wires are almost instantaneous and that their funds will be immediately available. That isn’t how the system works for outgoing funds. Let’s take a moment to review how funds by wire leave the closing table.

The first hoop is when the outgoing wire request is received by our bank. If a closing is completed by 2pm, there should be no problem making the 2:30pm cutoff for outgoing wires. We use Jacksonville Bank. If the customer receiving proceeds is also a Jacksonville Bank customer, then the funds should post to their account directly.

If the funds are being transferred to another institution, then it has to go through the Federal Reserve wire system – there isn’t a direct institution to institution transfer. The sending institution sends the wire to the Federal Reserve who then confirms the information. The Federal Reserve then sends the funds on to the receiving institution. From there, the funds find their way in to the customer’s account as per the receiving institution’s guidelines.

For all the steps in the above paragraph, there are time requirements and possible delays until the customer receives their funds. We will do all we can to have the process as smooth as possible and will make sure your customer is comfortable with the timeline for their closing.

You can get the PDF of the above here.

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