A Qualified Intermediary, sometimes called an accommodator, is a required party in a delayed 1031 exchange for investors in Fort Worth, Texas who want to defer federal capital gains tax under Section 1031. Without a Qualified Intermediary, an investor who sells a relinquished property and later buys a replacement property is generally treated as having constructively received the sale proceeds, which disqualifies the exchange even if the investor genuinely intended to reinvest in like kind property. The Qualified Intermediary steps into the transaction, receives the sale proceeds directly from closing rather than the investor, and holds those funds until they are used to acquire the replacement property, which keeps the investor from ever having actual or constructive control over the exchange proceeds.
The Internal Revenue Service places restrictions on who may serve as a Qualified Intermediary. A disqualified person generally includes the investor, the investor's agent, and anyone who has acted as the investor's employee, attorney, accountant, investment banker, broker, or real estate agent within the two year period before the exchange, with narrow exceptions for services related only to the exchange itself. Investors in Fort Worth, TX should engage a Qualified Intermediary before the relinquished property closes, because the exchange agreement and assignment documents generally need to be in place at or before that closing in order for the transaction to qualify as an exchange rather than a straight sale.
Beyond holding exchange funds, a Qualified Intermediary typically prepares the exchange agreement, receives the assignment of the purchase and sale contracts for both the relinquished and replacement properties, and serves as the recipient of the investor's written identification during the forty five day period. Investors in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex should confirm how their Qualified Intermediary holds exchange funds, since funds are typically placed in a qualified escrow or qualified trust account for security. Selecting a Qualified Intermediary and confirming these procedures early in the transaction timeline helps investors keep the exchange structured correctly from the relinquished property closing through the acquisition of replacement property within the one hundred eighty day period.