Real Estate Bookkeeping Cleanup Four recorded questions
Four questions recorded for this search. A results fetch on 28 September 2026 came back as a redirect shell, so these are the recorded questions, not a scraped list.
Send your questionIs earnest money income if it is in the operating account
No. Earnest money that landed in the operating account is still held for someone else. The account it landed in does not turn it into commission. The home page walks through what stays out of the operating books, and the account the deposit used is still the first fact.
The notice usually shows up after the office is closed, and the deposit is the line someone circled. The fear is that money held for a buyer or a seller was touched, even by accident, because it sat with operating money. We know that hour. The deposit keeps the name it had when it arrived. Sitting in the operating account does not rename earnest money as commission. If the bank line and the trust ledger disagree, bring both. The disagreement is the work. A cleanup that renames the deposit to match the account will show income the brokerage has not earned.
If the deposit was later moved back to the trust account, the operating month still shows the wrong income until that entry is reversed. Say whether the reversal is already in the closed month or still waiting. A cleanup that ignores the reversal will show the same deposit twice, once as income and once as trust.
Can a sales agent keep the trust account
No. The agent delivers trust money to the sponsoring broker immediately. The broker is the one who can hold the account. An agent who is still holding the check should say so on the call. The cleanup starts with that delivery, not with a new category in the operating books.
The sponsoring broker's name should be the name on the account. An agent's own account is not a substitute, even for a weekend. If the check is still in a drawer, say that on the form. The day it arrived and the day it reached the sponsoring broker are the two dates we ask for.
Does a three way name belong on this page
This page does not say that. The monthly accounting is what we produce when the trust account had activity. We do not rename that accounting as a three way package. If a lender asks for a package by another name, we will say what the monthly writeup already covers and what would have to be added for the lender. We will not pretend the writeup used the lender's name.
A lender package can ask for columns the monthly writeup does not name. We can line the monthly accounting up beside those columns and say which ones the writeup already covers. We will not retitle the accounting so the package looks finished when the underlying record is the same monthly file we already keep.
Do you give advice about a complaint
No. A complaint and a contract fight are for a lawyer. This practice reads the accounts. The disclosures page says what is not offered, including any report that needs a signature from a firm that does assurance work.
If a letter about the accounts is already in the file, bring the letter and stop there. We will not draft a response. The accounts can still be read, and the letter goes to the lawyer you choose.
Sources. Recorded questions on this plan. That 28 September 2026 fetch had no People Also Ask block to quote.
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