Mr. Norton, a financial planner who pleaded guilty to mail fraud in connection with the swindle, testified in the case, held in the Superior Court of San Diego, that an escrow officer and a local office supervisor at Chicago Title had known that what they were doing was wrong.
But he did point out that over 80percentt of the money held by his office was effectively in escrow under city, state or federal guidelines.
If there's a dispute, the funds go into escrow, with the county clerk's office and an administrative judge handling their disposition.
From the 1,640 complaints and 473 escrow dispute cases the bureau received last year, it resolved almost 1,500 complaints and nearly 300 escrow disputes, Mr. Milgrim said.
All the money goes into an escrow account set up by Brisman's office, and a third party pays out the monthly fees.
One aspect of the settlement between Countrywide and the trustee's office involves improper demands for escrow made by the company to borrowers Rodney and Lori Thompson.
There is so much to do, even within Nordine's well-organized system — posting task-completion forms online for asset managers, updating the listings on Nordine's Web site, fielding offers, and shepherding contracts into escrow — that two people work in Nate's bedroom, and on occasion the office toilet becomes a desk.
The president is trying to use his legal authority to force BP to create an escrow account setting aside billions of dollars for payments if the company does not do so on its own, a plan he has said he will address Tuesday in his first Oval Office speech.
In 1995, Mr. Mason took office as a civil court judge and, for several months, continued using the escrow money for personal expenses, the panel said.
