Responding to the concerns of the title and escrow industry, East Bay Municipal Utility District (“EBMUD”) has revised its guidelines for the Regional Private Sewer Later Ordinance No. 311 (the “Ordinance”). The revised guidelines clarify escrow’s role with respect to Compliance, Exemption or Time Extension Certificates. Specifically, a copy of the Compliance Certificate or Exemption Certificate is to be provided to the buyer, and language in the previous guidelines which stated that the certificate was to be included in your escrow package has been removed. In addition, the $4,500 deposit required for a Time Extension Certificate Application must now be deposited with EBMUD rather than escrow. Please see http://www.eastbaypsl.com/eastbaypsl/index.html for the revised guidelines.

For more information about this ordinance, or other escrow and title related legislation or issues, please contact Ella Gower at 925-935-9400 or email at ella.gower@msrlegal.com. For more background on escrow, see Miller & Starr California Real Estate 3d, Chapter 6, “Escrow.”