Real Estate Escrow

The Real Estate Escrow Certificate program is designed to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to obtain employment in title and escrow companies, mortgage companies, financial institutions, and related firms. Students will learn the systematic process of escrow, from inception to completion, and the activities related to this field, including the principles and practice of escrow, and the professional and ethical obligations of an escrow professional. 

Program Goals

The Real Estate Escrow Certificate of Achievement is designed to provide students with knowledge, skills, and abilities to obtain employment in title and escrow companies, mortgage companies, financial institutions, and related firms. 

Students who complete the program will be able to:

· Understand the various real estate listing agreements, concepts, forms, terminology, procedures, and contracts involved in preparing an escrow file.

· Analyze and apply real estate regulations, procedures of finance and economic factors such as institutional and non-institutional lenders and the various methods of qualifying an individual for asset-secured loans.

· Compute basic real estate mathematics

· Understand the structure and scope of the escrow business and be able to outline the steps involved in a real estate escrow transaction.

Program Objectives

The program will provide students with the knowledge and skills to:

• Demonstrate the expertise to prepare an escrow file from inception to completion by using industry standard transactional documents via cloud-computing platforms.

• Prepare estimated closing statements for buyers and sellers, prorating taxes and interest, demonstrating expertise in accessing county tax records to verify tax payment status, and delinquent tax status on properties.

• Order demands, Home Owners Association (HOA) statements, insurance, other documents and open title orders.

• Execute various types of escrow, such as resale, refinance, Real Estate Owned (REO), foreclosures, and short sale transactions. 

• Complete and review the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) Joint Purchase Agreement and Escrow Instructions submitted by buyers and seller’s agent(s). 

• Determine the validity of documents and availability of funds in accounts with lending institutions. 

• Review the preliminary title report and resolve title associated problems.

• Understand lenders’ closing requirements and the recording process. Balance and calculate the settlement of closing funds, calculate discounts and prorations, determine HUD/RESPA calculations and commission splits.

• Examine and summarize mortgages and trust documents to ensure all financial obligations have been met by the seller(s) and the buyer(s) in order to close escrow.

• Access County Assessor Portals to verify the accuracy of land ownership documents.

• Demonstrate the ability to use both the Multiple Listing Service (MLS - a web based licensed proprietary software), as well as public access databases to search for property ownership, and prepare property profiles.

• Prepare legal documents for the closure of the sale and transfer funds and title between parties.

• Demonstrate an understanding of real estate transaction law such as Regulation Z, usury laws, disclosure requirements, maximum fees and charges allowed under governing law, agency relationships, advertising law, and the ethical obligations that pertain to a real estate escrow officer in these aspects.

El Camino College’s real estate program is one of the oldest programs at the college. The department has a strong reputation of producing high-quality students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to succeed in the industry. Over the last two decades, with the expansion of the internet, many private schools began offering real estate courses entirely online, which meet the state requirements. However, El Camino College has the expertise and reputation to provide a superior alternative to those private programs.

Based on the Real Estate Department's 2019 program review, El Camino College has seen increasing enrollment in our real estate courses over the last five years. The department had an all-time high of 453 enrolled students in the 2018-2019 academic year. For comparison purposes, the 2014-2015 academic year reflected an enrollment of 230 students. El Camino College’s real estate program ranks sixth in the entire state based on enrollment numbers, and is only 88 students shy of ranking first in the state.

While department enrollment has grown, the program offerings have remained static. Based on our program review, our current offerings do no fully align with the industry and the demand for fully qualified real estate professionals. The department has only offered one associate degree and two certificate programs, which have not been aligned to changes in the industry or adjusted to meet the strong labor demand for real estate professionals.

Currently, there is high demand for entry-level to middle-skilled level real estate professionals.  The Los Angeles/Orange County Center of Excellence for Labor Market Research recently indicated that the labor market demand for the real estate industry is not being met by the current supply of community college programs. Based on the COE data, the department’s advisory committee recommended that the department expand the number of certificates offered in the program to add eight new specialized certificates to better prepare students for future careers in various real estate specializations.  

This Certificate of Achievement – Real Estate Escrow, will prepare more students for real estate specialization positions and help meet the labor demand in the region.  This certificate is part of the greater expansion of the real estate program at El Camino College.  In addition, this certificate will support students who aspire to become real estate professionals by encouraging them to continue their education and obtain specialized certifications.

This program has been endorsed by the COE.