Funds held in trust by an attorney that are “too small in amount or are reasonably expected to be held for too short a time to generate sufficient income to justify the expense of administering a segregated account for the benefit of the client or beneficial owner” are “qualified funds” and are appropriate for deposit in an IOLA account.  See Judiciary Law §497(2) and Section 7000.2(d) of the Trustees Regulations.

The determination is made solely in the judgment of the attorney who holds the funds in trust. New York has a statuary hold-harmless provision.  New York attorneys shall neither be liable in damages nor held to answer for a charge of professional misconduct because of a deposit of moneys into an IOLA account, pursuant to the attorney's good-faith judgment that such moneys were qualified funds. Judiciary Law §497(5); 21 N.Y.C.R.R. 7000.8(b).

Please click here for A Lawyer’s Guide to IOLA Accounts -- it has detailed instructions on opening an IOLA account and a link to the Enrollment Form.

Approximately 180 banks statewide participate in the IOLA program. The IOLA Fund maintains an up-to-date list of participating banks on this site. Banks in the first tier (Platinum Partners) have generously agreed to offer favorable rates. Banks that waive fees are also indicated. Opening an account at a bank that pays a higher rate and waives fees means that more interest will go to help low-income New Yorkers get the civil legal assistance they need from the Fund’s grantees.

No, the attorney makes that determination taking into account the amount of deposit, the duration it is expected to be held, and current interest rates and bank fees on non-IOLA escrow accounts.

All IOLA Account must contain the attorney's name followed by the acronym IOLA and must end in one of the following phrases; Attorney Trust Account, Attorney Escrow Account or Attorney Special Account. For details, see A Lawyer's Guide to IOLA accounts.

All IOLA Account must contain the attorney's name followed by the acronym IOLA and must end in one of the following phrases; Attorney Trust Account, Attorney Escrow Account or Attorney Special Account. For details, see A Lawyer's Guide to IOLA accounts.

The attorney is responsible for paying any fees not mentioned above, including those associated with wire transfers, stop payments, or NSFs (overdrafts).

If the attorney maintains an operating account at the same bank, the bank may agree to arrange for fees to be taken from the operating account. Alternately, the attorney can deposit funds into your IOLA account in an amount sufficient to cover such fees before they are charged. See Rules of Professional Conduct: 22 N.Y.C.R.R., Part 1200, Rule 1.15 (b)(3).

IOLA accounts are subject to Rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which requires that:

“All special account withdrawals shall be made only to a named payee and not to cash. Such withdrawals shall be made by check or, with the prior written approval of the party entitled to the proceeds, by bank transfer.” 22 NYCRR Part 1200, Rule 1.15 (e).

Courts have found that checks payable to “cash” and ATM withdrawals are prohibited from IOLA accounts. See, e.g., Matter of Butler, 285 A.D.2d 344 (2d Dep’t 2001).

Contact your bank and report the fraud and work with the bank’s fraud investigators. Depending on the situation, it may also be advisable to file a police report. If the fraud resulted in insufficient funds in the account, then you may want to contact The Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection.

The procedure for designation of successor signatories is explained in the Disciplinary Rules of the Code of Professional Responsibility. See Rules of Professional Conduct: 22 N.Y.C.R.R. Part 1200, Rule 1.15 (g).

Every state has a program that is similar to New York’s IOLA Fund. Typically, they are known by the acronym “IOLTA” or “Interest On Lawyer Trust Accounts.” Because an IOLA account is an escrow account, the answer would depend on the nature of the matter as it relates to the funds held in escrow. If it would be appropriate to hold the funds in escrow in another state when all relevant considerations are taken into account, then there is no requirement that they should be placed in a New York IOLA account.

The FDIC insures the owner of the Funds held in an attorney's IOLA escrow account at a bank. For details about the coverage, see www.fdic.org Please select the Coverage Disclosure and Regulatory Reporting Revisions Link.

Yes. The New York State Bar Association publishes a comprehensive guide, “Attorney Escrow Accounts.” You can order a copy from the Bar’s website and it may be in your local courthouse or bar association library. Also, from time-to-time the State Bar and others offer CLE courses about handling client funds.

Also, please see the publications by the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection.

Disciplinary matters involving client funds are handled by the grievance committees at each of the Appellate Divisions.

Return the funds to the appropriate client(s) and then close the account. You do not need to notify the IOLA Fund you have closed the account since the bank notifies us of the account closure.

If you cannot locate the client to return the funds contact The Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection for further direction. “Missing client” funds are transferred to the Lawyers’ Fund. See Rules of Professional Conduct: 22 N.Y.C.R.R. Part 1200, Rule 1.15 (f). They are not transferred to the IOLA Fund.

The law presumes that excess funds in an IOLA account after disbursement to client(s) are nevertheless funds that belong to a client. This is known as the “missing client.” Per 22 NYCRR Part 1200.1.15(f), “missing client” funds are transferred to the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection and not to the IOLA Fund. Contact The Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection for further directions.

The IOLA Fund is prohibited by statute from disclosing information about an attorney’s IOLA account to third parties, including whether the attorney has an account in the first instance, except where such disclosure is “necessary to accomplish the purposes of [IOLA’s mission] or unless disclosure is pursuant to compulsory legal process.” State Finance Law § 97-v(3)(g).

The New York State Court system is the oversight body over attorney conduct and maintains an online search-by-name directory of all attorneys admitted to practice in the State of New York.

No. Complaints against attorneys are filed with the Attorney Grievance Committee located in the jurisdiction where the attorney practices. The Attorney Grievance Committee is a component of the New York State Court system and is the oversight body over attorney conduct.

Clients who have lost money due to an attorney’s mishandling of escrow funds may apply for reimbursement to the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection.

Visit www.iola.org/banks

Yes. Please notify IOLA with detailed information.span>

Yes, you must receive pre-approval from the IOLA Fund in order to reduce your rate if your bank elected to pay a Comparable rate. IOLA requires at least 30 days notice. You must fill out a Rate Election Form available on our website (Bank Resources) and provide supporting documentation. If your bank elected the Safe Harbor Rate then no notification is necessary.

A bank’s status is based on the interest rate it elects to pay. Platinum Partners have agreed to pay the Safe Harbor rate. If you wish to change your bank’s election, then contact the IOLA Fund.

All requests must be in writing. You must state the reasons for the refund and provide supporting documentation. Refunds are governed by State Finance Law 97-v(5), and are only provided where the bank can demonstrate a “mistake of fact, error in calculation or erroneous interpretation of the provisions” of the IOLA laws.

A: Per 22 NYCRR Part 1300.1, all participating banks must agree to provide a Dishonored Check and/or Overdraft Report to the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection whenever a properly payable instrument is presented against an IOLA account which contains insufficient funds, irrespective of whether the instrument is honored. Do not send this report to the IOLA Fund. This report is sent to the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection.

Notify IOLA. IOLA will delete the user(s) as requested. Users can only add to the system (up to 3 users).

Submit a report on RUS by selecting file type "Adjustment File".span>

Submit a report on RUS by selecting file type "Closed Accounts File".

Click "N" in column H of the Detailed Report tab in your remittance file.

Your RUS user registration is not complete until you receive and validate the email verification within 24 hours. Please check your junk or spam email folders for the email verification. In the event you fail to confirm the email on time or if the bank's security system blocks the email, please call or email the IOLA Fund (646-865-1541 / Banks@iola.org) and request IOLA to delete the incomplete registration. Once deleted, you can re-do the registration.

No. Each participating bank may have a maximum of three users. Each user must utilize a separate email address, which may be a bank or department email address. To delete a user or reset a password, submit a request in writing to the IOLA Fund.

Please call or email the IOLA Fund (646-865-1541 / Banks@iola.org) to delete the incorrect registration and you may re-register.

This error message usually means that your bank created a new excel document, or incorrectly edited the Excel report template we provided you from the IOLA website. The template is formatted so that the data can be extracted and sync with our database. It is recommended that you re-download the NY IOLA Remittance Report Template available on the IOLA website (https://iola.org/banks) and try again. When you click on "Remittance Report Form" on the website, an excel document will download. Please do not attempt to recreate the Report Template. Rather, input the bank’s data directly into the first two tabs in the Report Template and save as a document in your system (the report file name should include the bank’s name and indicate the period covered by the report, e.g., bank_name_remittanceperiod.xlsx). Then, log into RUS and upload the report.

No. The Summary Report tab and Detail Report tab are separate tabs but are part of the same Excel Report Template document. When you upload NY IOLA Remittance Report Template, it will include both the Summary Report and Detail Report.

When reporting interest rates on the Summary Report (in Row 26): “Date” is the first day of the interest period. “Balance” is the balance at which the bank begins to pay interest. For those banks paying tiered rates, indicate the subsequent balances (“Balance 2,” “Balance 3,” etc.) at which the bank begins to pay at each tier. “Rate” refers to the single interest rate or, for those banks paying tiered rates, the rate on the first tier. Rates on the additional tiers should be indicated in the fields labeled “Rate 2,” “Rate 3,” etc.

Rates should be formatted as a percentage. For example: One percent is entered as either 1.00% or 0.0100. Do NOT enter 1.00.

A: Where the interest rate on an individual account fluctuated throughout the reporting period, report the effective rate for the period. For example: if during a thirty-day period the account rate was 1.00% for 15 days, and 0.50% for 15 days, the correct rate to report would be 0.75% for that account.

Given the IOLA Fund's charitable purpose, many banks waive all service fees. If a bank charges service fee, they may be only charged against the interest earned on an IOLA account. Service fees may not be greater than the fees imposed on comparable account products offered by the bank. Allowable service fees are limited to: per check charges, per deposit charges, monthly maintenance fees, a fee in lieu of a minimum balance or Federal Deposit Insurance fees, a fee for the preparation and issuance of reports required by the Fund. If the service charges on a given IOLA account exceed the interest earned on that account, the difference cannot be recovered from the total interest earned on all IOLA accounts. This is called "Negative Netting" and it is not allowed. Unpaid fees on one account, however, may be carried forward to the next remittance period and deducted from the interest earned on the same account.

Any other special service, non-routine activity or event fees are the responsibility of the lawyer or law firm maintaining the IOLA account and may not be deducted from the interest earned on the IOLA account. Such fees may include: check book printing fees, wire transfers, cashier's checks, certified checks, stop payment orders, account reconciliation services, overdrafts, insufficient funds or returned checks. Upon opening IOLA accounts, lawyers and law firms should be notified that such special or non-routine charges and fees are their responsibility. Arrangements may be made to take such fees from the lawyer's operating account. Alternatively, lawyers may deposit "reasonably sufficient" funds of their own into their IOLA account to cover fees. See 22 NYCRR §1200.1.15(b)(3).