Ordinary Care In this case study, an agent forgot to deposit the earnest money deposit in a timely manner.  Even though the agent was not responsible for the…

In this case study, the agent failed to make a timely deposit of the escrow funds. Despite having signed an acknowledgment of the Broker’s Policy and Procedure Manual, the agent still failed to input the contract and timely deposit the funds. Nevertheless, because of these policies and procedures, the Principal Broker was still able to discover the error and report the escrow violation to DPOR, ensuring that she properly supervised the agents in the firm.

This case examines an escrow case where the agent neglected to check certain boxes on the contract. While this does not void the contract, it does create an escrow violation for the real estate licensee. It highlights the importance of verifying the completeness of contracts and paying attention to details.

This case looks to an escrow violation, where the agent failed to timely deposit the EMD check by one day. Even a late deposit of only one day is an escrow violation. However, the brokerage firm had clear policies regarding escrow and the agent took full responsibility for his actions, which the board took into consideration.

This case study highlights how brokers may be held responsible for errors of their employees in the handling of earnest money deposits (EMD). It again demonstrates the importance of following the regulations pertaining to earnest money deposits.

This case study highlights the importance of following the real estate regulations when holding earnest money deposits.