GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001
S	1
SENATE BILL 790
     

 
Short Title:	Good Funds Settlement Act Revisions.	()	
Sponsors:	Senator Hartsell.	
Referred to:	Judiciary I.	
April 3, 2001

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REVISE THE GOOD FUNDS SETTLEMENT ACT TO REPEAL THE AUTHORITY OF A SETTLEMENT AGENT TO DISBURSE SETTLEMENT PROCEEDS IN RELIANCE ON A DEPOSIT IN THE FORM OF a check drawn on the account of or issued by a lender which is approved by the united states department of housing and urban development as either a supervised or nonsupervised mortagee.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 45A‑4 reads as rewritten:
"§ 45A‑4.  Duty of settlement agent.
The settlement agent shall cause recordation of the deed, if any, the deed of trust or mortgage, or other loan documents required to be recorded at settlement. The settlement agent shall not disburse any of the closing funds prior to the recordation of any deeds or loan documents required to be filed by the lender, if applicable, and verification that the closing funds used to fund disbursement are deposited in the settlement agent's trust or escrow account in one or more forms prescribed by this Chapter. Unless otherwise provided in this Chapter, a settlement agent shall not cause a disbursement of settlement proceeds unless those settlement proceeds are collected funds. Notwithstanding that a deposit made by a settlement agent to its trust or escrow account does not constitute collected funds, the settlement agent may cause a disbursement of settlement proceeds from its trust or escrow account in reliance on that deposit if the deposit is in one or more of the following forms:
(1)	A certified check;
(2)	A check issued by the State of North Carolina, the United States, or a political subdivision of the State of North Carolina or the United States;
(3)	A cashier's check, teller's check, or official bank check drawn on or issued by a financial institution insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or a comparable agency of the federal or state government;
(4)	A check drawn on the trust account of an attorney licensed to practice in the State of North Carolina;
(5)	A check or checks drawn on the trust or escrow account of a real estate broker licensed under Chapter 93A of the General Statutes;
(6)	A personal or commercial check or checks in an aggregate amount not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000) per closing if the settlement agent making the deposit has reasonable and prudent grounds to believe that the deposit will be irrevocably credited to the settlement agent's trust or escrow account;
	"
SECTION 2.  G.S. 45A‑5 reads as rewritten:
"§ 45A‑5.  Duty of lender, purchaser, or seller.
The lender, purchaser, or seller shall, at or before closing, deliver closing funds, including the gross or net loan funds, if applicable, to the settlement agent either in the form of collected funds or in the form of a negotiable instrument described in G.S. 45A‑4(1) through  (6), provided that the lender, purchaser, or seller, as applicable, shall cause that negotiable instrument to be honored upon presentment for payment to the bank or other depository institution upon which the instrument is drawn. However, in the case of a refinancing, or any other loan where a right of rescission applies, the lender shall, no later than the business day after the expiration of the rescission period required under the federal Truth‑in‑Lending Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1601, et seq., cause disbursement of loan funds to the settlement agent in one or more of the forms prescribed by provisions in this Chapter."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2001.