A broker shall not commingle with his or her own money or property the money or property of others which he or she receives and holds. Common causes of this violation are the deposit of trust funds received into the broker’s general business account or maintenance of over $200 in broker funds in a trust account holding trust funds.
A common example of this violation is when a broker deposits credit report fees and/or appraisal fees received into his or her general bank account instead of a trust account when he or she has not yet paid the bill. Often, the reason for this violation is that the broker does not maintain a trust account or the broker was not aware that credit report fees and appraisal fees are trust funds.
