California Trust Fund Handling

From ancient Mesopotamia to present day California, the process of properly transferring funds has been and is the foundation of real estate transactions. As a real estate professional, you act as the trusted intermediary, handling funds from one party to another as part of the transaction. These funds, known as trust funds, come in a myriad of forms such as earnest money deposits, security deposits, rent payments, and much more. Proper handling of trust funds is a fiduciary duty of the real estate professional and must be done with care and integrity. In this course you will learn the processes involved in managing and accounting for trust funds, the requirements involved in using trust accounts and how to ensure trust funds are properly managed.  By the end of this course, you will learn how to reconcile trust fund accounts and how auditing processes work.

Instructor:

Marsennia Wells, M.S. Ed, M.A., Instructor, Connect Classroom

Contact Instructor: [email protected]

Course Information:

CE Credit: 3 hours

Written section length: 3 hours

Estimated time to complete course: 3 hours

Course Objectives:

• Identify the differences between trust funds and non-trust funds, and recall your fiduciary responsibilities when handling each.
• Recall the requirements for managing trust fund accounts, and identify the actions that are prohibited by law with regard to trust fund management, including misappropriation, personal use, and commingling.
• Recall and show understanding of how to balance and reconcile accounts properly according to auditing standards.