SB 84 Text

Introduced Version Senate Bill 84 History

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sb84 intr Senate Bill No. 84
(By Senator Minard)
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[Introduced February 9, 2005; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §46A-6K-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §46A-6K-6, all relating to providing for a duty of settlement agent in a loan settlement; and expanding the definition of settlement agent to include business entities.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §46A-6K-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §46A-6K-6, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6K. GOOD FUNDS SETTLEMENT ACT.
§46A-6K-2. Definitions.
(a) "Collected funds" or "good funds" means moneys used to fund the disbursement of settlement proceeds deposited and irrevocably credited to a settlement agent's account.
(b) "Disbursement of loan funds" means the delivery of the loan funds by the lender to the settlement agent in the form of:
(1) Cash;
(2) Wired funds;
(3) Certified check;
(4) Checks issued by the United States Treasury, the State of West Virginia or an instrumentality of the United States or State of West Virginia;
(5) Cashier's check or teller's check or other similar draft or obligation of a federally insured bank, savings bank, savings and loan association or credit union or of any holding company or wholly owned subsidiary of the foregoing;
(6) Checks issued by a licensed lender qualified to do business in West Virginia which has posted the surety bond required by subsection (b), section four, article seventeen, chapter thirty-one of this code;
(7) Checks issued by an insurance company licensed and regulated by the West Virginia Insurance Commission, which checks are drawn on a federally insured financial institution;
(8) Checks drawn on the escrow account of an attorney licensed to practice law in West Virginia or on the escrow account of a real estate broker licensed in West Virginia; or
(9) Personal check or checks in an aggregate amount not exceeding five thousand dollars per loan closing.
(c) "Disbursement of settlement proceeds" means the payment of all proceeds of the transaction by the settlement agent to the persons entitled thereto.
(d) "Lender" means any person regularly engaged in making loans secured by deeds of trust to secure debt on West Virginia real estate. A person is considered to be regularly engaged in making loans if he or she makes more than five such loans in any one calendar year.
(e) "Loan closing" means that time agreed upon by the borrower, lender, seller, if applicable, and settlement agent when the execution by the borrower and delivery of the loan documents to the settlement agent occur.
(f) "Loan documents" means the note evidencing the debt due the lender, the deed of trust, or mortgage securing the debt due to the lender, and any other documents required by the lender to be executed by the borrower as a part of the transaction.
(g) "Loan funds" means the gross or net proceeds of the loan to be disbursed by or on behalf of the lender at loan closing.
(h) "Parties", as used in this subsection, means the seller, purchaser, borrower, lender and the settlement agent, as applicable.
(i) "Settlement" means the time when the settlement agent has received the duly executed deed, loan funds, loan documents and other documents and funds required to carry out the terms of the contract between the parties.
(j) "Settlement agent" means the person authorized by law to be responsible for conducting the settlement and disbursement of the settlement proceeds and includes any individual, corporation, partnership or other entity conducting the settlement and disbursement of loan proceeds.
§46A-6K-6. Duty of settlement agent.
The settlement agent shall cause recordation of the deed, the deed of trust or mortgage, and any other documents required to be recorded and shall cause disbursement of settlement proceeds within one business day of settlement. A settlement agent may not disburse any or all loan funds or other funds coming into its possession prior to the recordation of any instrument, except: (i) Funds received which are overpayments to be returned to the provider of such funds; (ii) funds necessary to effect the recordation of instruments; or (iii) funds which the provider of such funds has by separate written instrument directed to be disbursed prior to recordation of any instrument.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for a duty of settlement agent in a loan settlement; and expand the definition of settlement agent to include business entities.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
§46A-6K-6 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.