Disclosure
Northwest Trustee Services, Inc., a Washington CorporationNorthwest Trustee Services, Inc., an Idaho Corporation, Alaska Trustee, LLC, Standard Trust Deed, a division of Northwest Trustee Services, Inc., (Registered "d.b.a.")
May 23rd, 2011
Summary- Northwest Trustee Services, Inc., a Washington corporation ("NTS-WA"), Northwest Trustee Services, Inc., an Idaho corporation ("NTS-ID"), Alaska Trustee, LLC, an Alaska limited liability company ("AkT"), and Standard Trust Deed, a division of Northwest Trustee Services, Inc., ("STNTS"), provide foreclosure services in the western states of the United States. Principals of Routh Crabtree Olsen, P.S./Routh Crabtree, APC ("Law Firm") have an ownership interest in NTS-WA and AkT. NTS-ID is a wholly owned subsidiary of NTS-WA, and STNTS is a registered "d.b.a."
Background. In many states, foreclosure practice requires that the trustee named in the deed of trust perform certain acts. Each state has established its own set of qualifications for a trustee.
Northwest Trustee Services, STNTS and AkT are Not a Law Firms. None of the Trustee entities listed above are law firms. None of these Trustee entities provide legal services. Trustee entities only provide services that do not require the authority to practice law. None of any of these Trustee entity’s employees can provide you with legal advice. A business relationship between the Trustee and its lender clientele does not create an attorney-client relationship. Therefore, the information provided to any of these Trustee entities is not protected by the attorney client privilege or any other confidentiality obligation that would exist if there was an attorney client relationship. Trustee’s obligations are to carry out nonjudicial foreclosures according to the applicable law. All nonjudicial foreclosure matters received by the Law Firm are treated as direct referrals to the Trustee and not the Law Firm. The Law Firm does not represent you and in the unlikely event that you have a conflict with the Trustee, the Law Firm may decide to represent only the Trustee’s interests. If you decided that you needed representation, you would always have to retain separate counsel.
NTS-WA and NTS-ID. (Separate Washington and Idaho Corporations). NTS-WA, to include the STNTS division, is a Washington corporation created to act as a nonjudicial foreclosure trustee in states throughout the United States. NTS-ID was created to act as a non-judicial foreclosure trustee in Idaho. NTS-WA, STNTS and NTS-ID are sometimes interchangeably and/or collectively referred to herein as "NTS" or "Trustee." NTS-WA shares office space with NTS-ID, but NT-ID does not have employees, assets (except for Idaho’s minimum cash capitalization requirement of $25,000.00), books of account, bank accounts or systems of its own; instead NTS-ID is reliant upon its parent company, NTS-WA, to provide all of these resources. NTS-WA has its own employees, assets and books of account. Although its Bellevue, Washington main office occupies the same floor as the Law Firm, NTS-WA occupies separate space under a separate lease. Under a management/administrative agreement, the Law Firm provides Trustee with certain administrative and management resources, including accounting services and systems, human resources advice and oversight, computer systems implementation and maintenance and marketing support. The management/administrative agreement does not give any of the Trustee’s employees access to confidential attorney client information. The Law Firm does not generally perform nonjudicial foreclosures.
The Cost of Trustee's Services. The Trustee's fees for services are within the allowable caps established by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Virtually all deed of trust foreclosures conducted by the Trustee, are governed by the standards for performance and fee/cost reimbursement established by one of these agencies. The Trustee keeps current with the fee guidelines and regulations promulgated by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Veteran Affairs. The Trustee bills its customers for its foreclosure-related services.
Relationship of Northwest Trustee Services, Inc. and the Law Firm. The Trustee provides trustee services in a growing number of states. The Law Firm provides legal services in many of the same states. The Trustee and the Law Firm exist in close proximity, typically in the same building. This allows quick foreclosure file handoffs to the Law Firm when legal services are required (e.g. bankruptcy, eviction processing or more serious litigation).
Competing Entities. There are numerous other trustee companies and law firms. Should you require a list of those trustee companies and law firms please contact us. Our list may not be complete, and the list is not a recommendation to hire any particular trustee company or law firm.
Independent Inquiry. The decision to hire any of the Trustee related entities is yours. We urge you to consider an independent inquiry and decision whether to hire any of these Trustee entities. We also strongly recommend that you review any possible legal issues with your choice of independent counsel.
Our Disclosure. Two principals of the Law Firm have an ownership interest in NTS-WA, and a principle has an ownership interest in AkT. NTS-ID is a wholly owned subsidiary of NTS-WA.
More Information. If you wish to receive more information, please contact Jeff Aiken, Chief Operating Officer at (425) 425-586-1900.
Copyright 2012 - Northwest Trustee Services, Inc., All Rights Reserved