California settlement services

The standard for wire-instruction review before funds move.

That standard is one page per disbursement: what changed, what was checked, what stayed open, who signed. Sealed before funds move, and still there when someone reopens the file.

The review already happens. The question is whether your file can prove it.

File lifecycle

Where the review lives in the file lifecycle.

After disbursement

Six months later, someone reopens the file — counsel, a regulator, or your own team. If what was checked never made it into the disbursement record, the file cannot show the review. Only that funds moved.

Before disbursement

Review the file. Record what changed, what was checked, what stayed open, who reviewed it, and what the office decided. Then funds move — or do not.

Where the Veto Record lives
During disbursement

The office releases funds. Systems of record do their job. If the review is only in an inbox, the file has nothing to show an auditor except that money left.

Most tools optimize for during and after. Veto is built for before — so when the file is reopened, it can show what was checked, not just that the wire left.

Building the record · beat 00 of 06

Scroll — each beat adds a line to the record.

Veto Record
Disbursement review · File 26-2287
Pacific Coast Escrow, Long Beach · reviewer J. Martinez
Recorded
Disbursement
Seller proceeds · $312,480.00
What changed
Destination account
Change via
email · domain not on file
Account name
no payee match
Callback
number on file · no answer
Seller auth.
not on file
Evidence retained
5 of 6
Office action
Hold pending authorization
Reviewer
J. Martinez · before release
Signed
2026-05-26T14:28 UTC
Record hash
sha256:4e3cf8a1…6af713
01

One review, one disbursement.

Every Veto Record covers a single file and a single release. This one is the seller's net proceeds, three hundred twelve thousand dollars, and the review began when the destination account changed at the last minute.

02

How the change arrived.

The new instructions came in by email, from a domain the office hadn't had on file, and the account they point to isn't in the seller's name. Both are recorded exactly as they came in, not waved through.

03

The checks that didn't clear.

A callback to the number already in the file went unanswered, and there's no signed authorization from the seller for the change. Two things the file can't yet stand on.

04

What's in hand, and what the office did.

Five of the six items the office expects are on file; the missing one is named, not buried. With that gap open, the office held the disbursement pending written authorization.

05

Who signed it, and when.

A named reviewer, J. Martinez, signed the record before any money moved. The timestamp sits on the file, so the timing isn't a matter of memory later.

06

Sealed, and file-ready.

The record closes with a hash and its open gaps retained. Veto records the review; it does not approve, verify, or make wires safe. If anyone asks later what was checked, the file answers, not someone's memory.

What is the Veto Record

One file-ready record per disbursement review.

A Veto Record is not a score, a risk rating, or a green light to wire. It is the page in the file that states what changed, what was checked, what stayed open, who reviewed it, and what the office decided — before funds move. Field-by-field grammar is in The Standard; File 26-2287 is the sample you scrolled through above.

Sebastian Heyneman

Sebastian Heyneman

Founder, Veto

Secretary, Orange County Escrow Association

My standing in California escrow — not the association endorsing Veto.

“I built Veto because I watched escrow offices do careful work that never made it into the file. The review happened. The record didn't.”

Building with California escrow operators — one closed file, one record, and one judgment: does this belong in the file, or is it extra paperwork?

That is the bar.

A named file, what changed, every check with its result and its limitation, the open gap stated plainly, the office's action, a signature and a hash. That is what a wire-instruction review should leave in the file. Veto sets that bar, and produces the record that meets it. Read the standard →

Veto records the review. It does not approve, authorize, guarantee, insure, verify, release funds, validate identities, confirm bank accounts, authenticate payees, or make wires safe to send. It does not replace the operator's judgment, the callback, or the office's existing controls. The escrow office remains the release authority.

The review already happens in your office. One question is left.

Can your files clear it?

Send a closed or redacted disbursement — redact account numbers and other sensitive fields as you would for any vendor. We use your file only to produce the Veto Record and follow up with you, not for marketing lists. We delete materials on a reasonable schedule after the review unless you ask us to keep them. Privacy policy.

No account, no software. Want to test the bar before you send? Ten questions, your judgment, not a Veto score.

Outside California? We're starting here. Leave your email and we'll let you know when we expand.