ELECTRONIC REAL ESTATE EXCISE TAX PROCESSING PROGRAM AGREEMENT

Transcription

1 ELECTRONIC REAL ESTATE EXCISE TAX PROCESSING PROGRAM AGREEMENT Snohomish County (the County ) offers electronic processing of real estate excise tax affidavits under its Electronic Real Estate Excise Tax Processing Program (the Program ). For the purposes of this Agreement, electronic processing means the undersigned may transmit scanned images of ink signed real estate excise tax affidavits along with certain required electronic indexing information to the County Treasurer for processing as described more fully below Program Eligibility Title Insurance Companies, Mortgage Bankers, Full Service Banks and erecording businesses approved by the Treasurer ( Participant ) may directly submit real property records for electronic processing and recording. Participation in the Program is voluntary and the decision to do so is a business judgment. Companies not participating in the Program will receive services at the same level prevailing at the outset of the Program (April 1, 2010). There are no additional costs or charges for participating in the Program. Program Requirements All Participants agree to comply with the following requirements: Technical Specifications: Attachment A, attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference, defines the technical specifications including format, transmission protocols and security requirements of the electronic records required by County. The Participant agrees to provide the transmission to the County following these technical specifications. The Participant understands that the specifications may change from time to time. In the event changes to the specifications are required, the County will provide a written notice to the Participant within a reasonable timeframe. Document and Indexing Specifications: Attachment B, attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference, contains a copy of the County s requirements and the requirements of the State of Washington Department of Revenue. For each submitted document, the County specific document code must be provided along with the required indexing information. The data for the excise tax affidavit, conveyance document and other documents must be submitted in both XML and scanned copies. The County will reject and return any transactions that do not meet the document and indexing specifications. Processing Schedules and Hours of Operation: Attachment C, attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference, establishes the Program processing schedules and hours of operation.

2 Reserved Characters: Attachment D, attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference, establishes the list of characters that are reserved and therefore cannot be used in a database. Payment of Excise Tax Payment: The County will notification to the Participant when the submitted documents have been accepted, processed, and forwarded to the County Auditor for recording. Participant shall pay electronically processed excise tax through echeck on the County Treasurer s web page no later than 3:00 pm on the same day that the submitted documents have been accepted, processed, and forwarded to the Auditor for recording. Any documents received and processed after 3:00 pm must be paid by echeck no later than 3:00 pm the following day. The echeck must be drawn on a bank account that accepts ACH withdrawal. We will apply a bank return fee to any echeck that does not clear your account. The fee will be based on the prevailing executive order for dishonored checks. The use of draw down accounts for nontaxable transactions is an option but the submitter must indicate at setup whether or not they will use their draw down account for nontaxable transactions. Draw down usage will not be allowed for part of the nontaxable transactions but not for others. An will still be sent to the submitter indicating that the documents have traveled to the Auditor but the will not stipulate the type of payment. Participant Responsibilities Participant acknowledges that the Program permits them to prepare, sign and/or transmit in electronic form real estate excise tax affidavits and that these electronic affidavits shall be considered as the original record of the transaction in substitution for, and with the same intended effect as, paper documents. By use of digital certificates to seal electronic files containing images of original paper documents or documents bearing manual signatures, Participant shall recognize such sealed images for all purposes as fully as the original paper documents and shall be responsible for any failure of its employees to comply with quality control procedures for assuring the accuracy and completeness of the electronic files. Participant and its employees attest to the accuracy and completeness of the electronic records and acknowledge responsibility for the content of the documents submitted through the Program. Participant is responsible for the costs of the system or services provided by a third party that enables Participant to meet the Program requirements. General Terms The County will not incur any liability for the information electronically transmitted by the Participant. The County will not incur any liability for any breach of security, fraud, or deceit as a result of the Program. The County shall not be liable to the Participant for any special, incidental, exemplary or consequential damages arising from or as a result of any delay, omission or error in the Program. The County and Participant will attempt in good faith to resolve any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to the Program through either negotiation or mediation prior to initiating litigation.

3 Either party may terminate this Agreement for any reason by providing 30 days written notice of termination. Agreed and Accepted By: Use Drawdown Company: Name: Do Not Use Drawdown Title: Date: Instructions Please sign and scan the Agreement and it to Barb Storey at Snohomish County, WA.

4 Processing Schedule and Hours of Operation Holiday Closure Schedule The holiday closure schedule is located on the Snohomish County web page. Processing Schedules During regular business hours of operation, the County will commit to opening the ereet Processing Queue at the top of every hour beginning at 8:00 am and continuing until 2 hours prior to closing. Business hours are Monday Thursday 9:00 am to 12:00n and 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Friday hours are 9:00 am to 12:00n and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. We will process all the packages in the queue and will also check for packages during the hour. Turnaround Timeframe Upon acceptance of electronic documents, submitters will receive the following information from the Treasurer s Office: An noting that the document has been approved and sent to the Auditor for recording. This contains a link to the Treasurer s Web Page and is your indication that payment is due by echeck through the Web Page within an hour. Upon rejection of electronic documents, submitters will receive the following information from the Treasurer s Office; An noting that the document has been rejected and the reason for rejection. Alternative Delivery Options In the event the ereet Processing Queue is inoperable, the traditional means of document submission remain available. Paper documents may be submitted in person to the Snohomish County Treasurer s Office at 3000 Rockefeller Avenue, Administration Building, Everett, Washington. Paper documents may also be mailed to the Snohomish County Treasurer 3000 Rockefeller Avenue, M/S 501, Everett, Washington Service Help Contact Information

5 Barbara Storey, Tax Supervisor Snohomish County Treasurer s Office 3000 Rockefeller Avenue M/S 501 Everett WA (phone) (fax) Barb.storey@snoco.org Vera Barsukoff, Systems Administrator Snohomish County Treasurer s Office 3000 Rockefeller Avenue M/S 501 Everett WA (phone) (fax) Vera.barsukoff@snoco.org