32-7-121. Unauthorized business practices -- penalty. (1) Unauthorized business practices of escrow businesses include but are not limited to the following:
     (a) issuing, circulating, making use of, or publishing, by any means of communication, an advertisement indicating that a person is in the escrow business if that person is not a licensed escrow business;
     (b) soliciting or accepting an escrow instruction or amended or supplemental escrow instruction containing any blank to be filled in after the signing or initialing of the escrow instruction or permitting any person to make any addition to, deletion from, or alteration of an escrow instruction or amended or supplemental escrow instruction unless the addition, deletion, or alteration is signed or initialed by the affected party who signed or initialed the escrow instruction or amended or supplemental escrow instruction prior to the addition, deletion, or alteration;
     (c) failing to carry out the escrow transactions pursuant to the written escrow instructions unless amended by the written agreement of all parties to the escrow agreement or their assigns;
     (d) accepting any escrow transaction that requires or has required the prepayment, deduction, or withholding of any sum to cover payments on the indebtedness or any prior encumbrance if the payments are not due and payable to the mortgagee or obligee at the time the escrow is established. However, payments may be made on property taxes for the current year or for the next annual premium on hazard insurance.
     (e) refusing to allow parties to an escrow transaction or designated agents of those parties access to the records of the escrow transaction; and
     (f) failing to promptly distribute funds pursuant to escrow instructions.
     (2) Any licensee who engages in an unauthorized business practice is subject to the revocation or suspension of the licensee's license.

     History: En. Sec. 12, Ch. 651, L. 1989.