|
|
|
Legislative Issues You Should Know About Legislative Issues You Should Know About The first is Senate Bill # 2759, a proposed
amendment to the Real Estate Transfer Tax Law. The effect of this proposal
would be to change the State Transfer Tax rate from $0.50 per $500.00 as
follows: In the somewhat normal residential market of
properties under $500,000 there is a benefit, or savings of $0.10 per $500 or
fraction of the $500 amount, however, any transaction in excess of $500,000
will see a significant increase in the tax due. Understand that this is just the State Transfer
Tax, the counties, for the time being, are remaining as they have been. As of
this writing they are holding at the $0.50 per $500 of value or fraction
thereof. The second item is an amendment to the Title Act,
which has to do with the “Good Funds” at the closing from the lender or the
purchaser, or in some rare cases the seller. Basically what this law will state is that any
Title Company shall not make disbursements from the escrow account unless the
funds in the aggregate amount of $50,000 or greater received from any single
party to the transaction are “wired funds unconditionally held by and
irrevocably credited” to the escrow account of the title company. Any funds
less than $50,000 from any single party to the transaction must be “collected
funds or good funds”. Good funds being defined as wired funds unconditionally
held by and irrevocably credited to the escrow account, cashiers check,
certified check, bank money order, official bank checks, drawn on or issued by
a federally insured financial institution and unconditionally held by the
title company, or title insurance agent. Personal checks will be accepted in
the amount of, and at the discretion of, the title company or title insurance
agent. Feel free to contact John Howe at Benchmark Title
if you have any questions regarding any of the above. If you have issues with
any of these proposals you may also contact your legislator to express your
approval, concerns, or objections.
|
Be the first in your
office to try out SureClose.com,
Benchmark Title's new FREE online transaction management system. Why waste
time making status phone calls or standing by the fax waiting for your title
commitment when you can get what you need instantly from your own computer.
Visit SureClose.com for more
information or call April
Tolan, our SureClose Specialist, at 618-239-3750 for your sign-on so you
can start saving yourself time and money today. We'll even give you and your
clients a free CD at closing containing copies of their closing documents. Give me my policy! Did you know that
lenders and home buyers now receive their title policies at the closing
table? Contact Michelle
Null, VP Escrow Operations, to learn more about this exciting new
program. Ready to refi? Lenders and
homeowners will want to hear about our fantastically low new refinance rates.
Contact us today for a quote! Why wait? You can place your
next title order now by clicking here. Customer Feedback
Line |
||||
|
We send special notices and tips to customers who have given
us their |
|||||
