June 2025
Managing clients' trust accounts requires careful recordkeeping and adherence to law and administrative rules. If you conduct property management, your responsibilities go beyond handling funds — you must maintain detailed documentation for all financial transactions. Proper management of everything, from interest-bearing accounts to electronic records, protects all parties. The following outlines key requirements for maintaining compliant clients' trust accounts.
Interest-bearing accounts
For interest-bearing clients' trust accounts, the amount of interest earned and the date the interest was credited to the account must be recorded. Remember: You may hold owner funds in an interest-bearing account
only if it is agreed to in the property management agreement. Tenant security deposits may also be held in an interest-bearing account if agreed to in the property management agreement
and the tenant has provided the property manager with written approval, typically in the lease agreement.
Bills and receipt documentation
You must keep copies of all paid bills and receipts that support the entries in the receipts and disbursements journal.
Electronic banking
You can use electronic banking by creating a record of each transaction in one of the following ways:
- Print a copy of online transactions that include the date, time, and nature of each transaction.
- Make a written notation of telephonic transactions including the date, time, and nature of each transaction.
- Create an electronic document that readily relates to the transaction containing the equivalent information above.
Electronic records must be maintained with the same care and retention period as physical records.
Checks for a failed tenancy
If you receive a check from a tenant or prospective tenant for rent, tenant's security deposits, or fees and the tenancy fails for any reason within three (3) banking days after you receive it, you can return the check without depositing and processing it through your clients' trust account.
You must:
- Keep a photocopy of the check.
- Keep a dated receipt for the check.
- Enter the amount of the check and the dates of receipt and return of the check on the tenant ledger.
Multi-purpose checks including rent and security deposits
If you receive a security deposit as part of a larger check containing funds other than security deposits, such as the first month's rent, you can deposit the check into your owner/rent clients' trust account. The part of the funds that are security deposits must be then transferred into the security deposit clients' trust account within three (3) banking days.
Negative balances
A receipts and disbursements journal or check register may show a negative balance during the course of the day as long as the records show a positive balance at the end of the day.
Cash Management
A written receipt is required for any cash you receive under a property management agreement. This includes any cash you may collect, including vending machines and laundry machines located on the owner's property.
Cash receipts must be consecutively pre-numbered and printed in at least duplicate form. The receipts must contain:
- The date of receipt.
- The amount.
- The reason for the payment or collection of the funds received.
- The identifying owner code associated with the property management agreement.
- The tenant's name or the machine the cash was collected from.
- The payee of the funds.
- The name and signature of the individual who received the cash and prepared the receipt.
Clients' trust account reviews
The Oregon Real Estate Agency regularly conducts reviews of clients' trust accounts. Keeping an accurate receipts and disbursements journal is essential to having a successful review.
Maintaining clients' trust account records with proper documentation helps you build a foundation of trust with both property owners and tenants, as well as protect the financial interests of all parties involved. Learn more at
https://www.oregon.gov/rea/newsroom/pages/2023-oren-j/audit-yourself-cta-review-expectations.aspx.
If you have any questions about maintaining your clients' trust accounts, contact the Oregon Real Estate Agency at
orea.info@rea.oregon.gov.