By Debra Peterson Conrad, Wisconsin REALTORS® Association, and Scott C. Minter,
UW Law School
2010 Edition; 99 pages; $22.00 Publications Order Form
Real Estate Trust Accounts in
Wisconsin is a product of the cooperative
relationship between the Law School and the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association. The authors are
Debra Peterson Conrad from the Wisconsin REALTORS®
Association and Scott C. Minter from the UW Law School. The goal of this
publication effort is to provide real estate licensees with a clear, concise,
and practical explanation of a broker's duty to handle trust funds in
conformance with procedures established by the Department of Regulation and
Licensing. This handbook identifies problems that arise in a real estate
transaction regarding earnest money and other types of trust funds and suggests
ways to comply with the trust account regulations enforced by the Department.
The handbook explains the duty of a
broker to account for money he or she receives or disburses on behalf of a
party to a real estate transaction. The first part of the handbook
explains the rules of the Department of Regulation and Licensing for accounting
of trust funds. The second part explains record keeping requirements of
the Department to ensure that trust funds are properly held and accounted for
after disbursement. Samples of bookkeeping forms are included to help
brokers develop a professional bookkeeping system that complies with Department
rules.
The 2010 edition completely
updates each chapter in the prior edition (2007) to reflect current issues and
the recent adoption of the new standard residential offer-to-purchase
(WB-11). The text incorporates relevant portions of the new WB-11 that
relate to trust accounts. These updates continue the book's reputation as
an up-to-date, practical resource for professionals involved in residential
real estate transactions.
Contents
Chapter
1 Introduction
Chapter
2 What Are Trust Funds?
Chapter
3 Account Requirements
Chapter
4 Handling Trust Deposits and
Disbursements
Chapter
5 Disbursing Earnest Money
Chapter
6 Property Management Trust Funds
Chapter
7 The Bookkeeping System
Chapter
8 Step 1: The Cash Journal
Chapter
9 Step 2: The Ledger
Chapter
10 Steps 3, 4, and 5: Account Reconciliation,
Trial Balance, and Validation of Account
Chapter
11 Computerized Trust Accounting
Chapter
12 Trust Account Problem Areas for the Broker
Chapter
13 Who is Responsible for Handling Trust Account
Funds?
Chapter 14 Retaining Trust Account Records
Chapter
15 A Review of the Legal Requirements for Trust
Accounts
Illustrations
- Sample Cash Journals
- Computer-Printed Cash
Journal
- Sample Ledgers
- Broker's Funds
- Rental Ledger
- Computer-Printed
Ledgers
- Sample Reconciliation
- Sample Trial Balance
- Setup Class
- Reconciled Bank
Statement
- Reconciliation Report
Setup
- Monthly Reconciliation
- Customized Transaction
Report
- Trial Balance Report
- Memorize Report
- Journal Pages Report
- Ledger Pages Report
