Banking for Law Firms & Title Companies
With TowneBank, law firms and title companies enjoy fast, local decisions from banking professionals with proven experience in your industry. Talk with us today about our comprehensive financial solutions including cash management, fraud protection, and wire transfer services to keep your cash flowing smoothly, cash reserves optimized, and transactions moving like clockwork. Our complete line of deposit, lending, treasury and private banking solutions are designed specifically to support the legal industry.
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FAQs
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IOLTA stands for "Interest on Lawyers' Trust Account". Some states such as a Virginia and North Caroline, require that attorneys who handle client funds, including settelment checks, fees advanced for services not yet performed or, money to pay court fees, deposit the funds in one or more clearly identifiable trust accounts. All funds received or held for the benefit of clients by a member or law firm, including advances for costs and expenses, shall be deposited in one or more identifiable bank accounts labeled "Trust Account," "Client's Funds Account" or similar. If the amount is large or the funds are to be held for a long period of time, the attorney must place the money at interest for the benefit of the client. However, if the client funds are not capable of earning income for the client in excess of the costs of securing such income, including staff time and expenses to segragate those amounts, then they are pooled in a single account with simliar funds of other clients. In states that don't require attorneys to manage client funds in IOLTA accounts, funds can be deposited into non-interest bearing check accounts. Currently under rules and/or statues in every state, an attorney may or must pool nominal or short-term client funds in an interest-bearing account.
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An escrow account is a specialized account designed to simplify and secure legal arrangement of funds. They are often associated with mortgages but they can also be used in addressing mergers, litigation, collateral and more. An IOLTA account, or Interest on Lawyer Trust Account, is a focused interest-bearing account that allows a law form to handle nominal or short-term funds and the interest earned on these accounts is remitted to the state IOLTA program for charitable purposes.
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IOLTA accounts are savings accounts or an operating account.
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Yes, TowneBank offers IOLTA accounts in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. You can learn more about our offering here.
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Yes, IOLTA accounts are interest-bearing; however, any interest earned on the account, in excess of deposit fees, are submitted by the bank to the legal bar association in your state. The interest from IOLTA accounts are used for charitable purposes by your state.
Normal credit criteria apply