SECTION 78.302. Trust Account; Maintenance of Funds Held in Trust

(a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to clarify and establish requirements related to the requirement of a person who collects or receives a payment from a wrap borrower under the terms of a wrap mortgage loan to hold such funds in trust, as provided by Finance Code §159.151.

(b) Definitions. The following terms in this section have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) "Financial institution" has the meaning assigned by Finance Code §201.101(1).

(2) "Trust account" means a custodial, trust, or escrow account managed by one person for the benefit of another person.

(3) "Trust funds" means the funds collected or received from a wrap borrower under the terms of a wrap mortgage loan.

(4) "Receiver" means a wrap lender or other person collecting or receiving trust funds.

(c) Trust Account Required. Unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the wrap borrower and wrap lender in connection with the wrap mortgage loan, trust funds must be placed in a trust account meeting the requirements of this section, and maintained or disbursed in accordance with this section.

(d) Trust Account Requirements.

(1) The trust account must be clearly identified as such at the financial institution.

(2) The receiver may, but is not required to, maintain separate trust accounts for each wrap mortgage loan or wrap borrower. To the extent the receiver maintains separate trust accounts for each wrap mortgage loan or wrap borrower, the same trust account may also be used for purposes of administering an escrow account for the wrap mortgage loan or wrap borrower.

(3) Funds in the trust account must be capable of being disbursed by the receiver on-demand or in an amount of time sufficient to timely effect disbursements reasonably anticipated from the trust account.

(4) A receiver, in addition to depositing trust funds, may deposit and maintain a limited amount of money in the trust account necessary to avoid or cover potential fees imposed by the financial institution in connection with the trust account including account maintenance fees or fees charged for insufficient funds.

(e) A receiver may not:

(1) commingle trust funds with non-trust funds;

(2) deposit or maintain trust funds in a personal account or any form of business account; or

(3) pay operating expenses or otherwise make withdrawals or disbursements from a trust account for any purpose other than the proper disbursement of trust funds.

(f) Disbursement of Trust Funds.

(1) A receiver may only disburse money from a trust account in accordance with the terms of the wrap mortgage loan or such other agreement as may be entered into with the wrap borrower to govern the disbursement of trust funds.

(2) If a receiver is unable to reasonably determine to which party or parties trust funds should be disbursed, the receiver may tender trust funds into the registry of a court of competent jurisdiction and interplead the relevant party or parties.

Source Note: The provisions of this §78.302 adopted to be effective January 8, 2022, 46 TexReg 9238