How are bank service charges on IOLTA accounts handled?
. NC IOLTA pays routine service charges on IOLTA accounts. It is permissible for banks that do not waive service charges on IOLTA accounts to deduct from interest or utilize earnings credit for routine service charges associated with the account. Routine service charges include monthly account maintenance charges, per item check or deposit charges,etc. Business costs or costs billable to others are the responsibility of the law firm and should not be charged against client funds in the account or against the interest or the earnings credit of an IOLTA account. These charges may be deducted from the firms operating account, billed to the firm, or deducted from funds maintained or deposited by the lawyer in the IOLTA account for that purpose. Examples of such costs include but are not limited to check printing, NSF/OD fees, stop payment orders, wire transfer fees, account reconciliation, remote capture capability, on-line banking, digital imaging, CD Rom statements, or interest charged o
