By Lisa A. Tyler
National Escrow Administrator

Offices closing commercial transactions are not immune to the diverted wire transfer scam. In fact, in most cases they are more vulnerable since they are usually wire transferring funds in the millions of dollars. Read "MULTI-MILLION dollar loan payoff scam" to discover how a manager of a title agency recently prevented a diverted wire transfer scam in a commercial refinance transaction.

Escrow and title companies do not accept cash of any kind. There are far too many risks involved. It is unsafe for employees to accept cash at an office since they do not have a place, such as a theft proof safe, to store the cash. In addition, they do not have the means to secure the cash for delivery to the bank for deposit.

Banks are highly regulated and must report cash deposits to federal agencies. Cash deposits at a bank trigger reporting which would be done in the name of the remitter or settlement agent — not the customer. Read "CA$H money" for the last and biggest reason why settlement agents cannot accept cash at their offices.

In this month's article on the value of title insurance, we provide a detailed description of the industry's most commonly issued report called the Commitment. Discover what it is and what it is not in the article entitled "WHAT is a commitment for title insurance?"