The QI File

Qualified Intermediary

Starker Services

Starker Services, Inc. · Parent: Independent / unpublished · Firm website

FEA membership
FEA unknown
CES® holders
Not published on cited pages
Fidelity bond
$1,000,000 fidelity bond
E&O / other cover
Security-of-funds page: Starker Services carries a Bond to protect the clients’ funds, with a link to view the bond certificate. The $1,000,000 figure is on the FAQ page, not restated as a dollar on the security page. E&O is not on the pages cited.
How funds are held
Segregated
Dual-signature wires
Dual-signature
Reverse / improvement / DST
Reverse Yes · Improvement Yes · DST Unknown
Last sourced
2026-09-16

Published coverage notes

Security-of-funds page: Starker Services carries a Bond to protect the clients’ funds, with a link to view the bond certificate. The $1,000,000 figure is on the FAQ page, not restated as a dollar on the security page. E&O is not on the pages cited.

Fund handling

FAQ: each exchange account is segregated; two corporate officer signatures are required to transfer funds. Security-of-funds: funds must be deposited in FDIC-insured accounts or insured U.S. Treasury funds; every exchange is assigned an individual account number; funds are never co-mingled; each account is a 100% liquid savings account; two corporate officer signatures plus the client’s written authorization on outgoing wires and checks; funds only to a closing company or closing attorney’s trust account for property under contract. Jeff Whalen, SVP, Bridge Bank, is quoted: separate savings account for each client’s exchange; wires only to escrow for the replacement or back to the exchangor if canceled. Optional Qualified Escrow Account: notarized QEA signed by all exchangors serves as the signature card; the bank then requires the exchangors’ signatures plus two Starker Services, Inc. corporate officers to wire. The deposit bank is named only in that Bridge Bank quote — confirm the live title, because bank brands change.

Who it is for

Independent Los Gatos QI for exchangers who want Starker Services, Inc. — formed 1987; sole function QI — to hold proceeds in an individual, never-co-mingled FDIC or insured U.S. Treasury savings account with two corporate-officer signatures to move funds, plus an optional notarized QEA. Public legal name: Starker Services, Inc. (SSI). Office: 20 South Santa Cruz Avenue, Suite 304, Los Gatos, CA 95030. Phone (800) 332-1031. Fax (408) 356-0808. Email 1031@starker.com. Exchange page: simultaneous, delayed, improvement/construction, reverse Type A (Exchange Last) and Type B (Exchange First), reverse/improvement combo, multi-property / multi-party. Homepage markets “Over 250,000 Successful 1031 Exchanges Completed!” as a firm claim, not a rating. Company FEA, CES® names, a fee card, and DST are not on the pages cited.

Verdict

Los Gatos QI with a thick custody file: Inc. legal name, formed 1987, sole-function QI, individual never-co-mingled accounts, FDIC or insured U.S. Treasury, two corporate-officer signatures plus client written authorization, optional QEA, a published $1,000,000 fidelity bond on the FAQ, and a printed reverse (Type A/B) plus improvement menu. That is enough to list. The Bridge Bank name is a quoted officer line — confirm today’s bank. “Nation’s oldest/largest independent QI” and “over 250,000” exchanges are firm marketing, not ratings. Company FEA, CES®, E&O dollars, a fee card, and DST are not on the pages opened. Ask for today’s bond certificate, the live account title, and who the two officer signers are before a large transfer.

Notes

This is a QI custody file, not a securities offering. The contracting name on the pages opened is Starker Services, Inc. (SSI). Confirm the named party on the exchange agreement. Starker Services, Inc. is the intermediary that would hold exchange proceeds. A Delaware statutory trust is typically a securities offering sold by a sponsor and registered representatives — a different product. The pages opened for this file do not publish a DST desk.

Homepage: formed in 1987 following the Starker tax-court decision; sole function is a staff of exchange professionals for all types of tax-deferred exchanges. What-we-do repeats the sole-function line and lists simultaneous, delayed, construction, reverse, and personal-property exchanges. After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, §1031 is real property only; treat leftover personal-property copy as historical, not a current product.

FAQ (“How are the exchange funds protected”): SSI maintains a $1,000,000 fidelity bond (the page links to view the bond); each exchange account is segregated; two corporate officer signatures are required to transfer funds. Security-of-funds: FDIC-insured accounts or insured U.S. Treasury funds; individual account number per exchange; never co-mingled; 100% liquid savings; two corporate officer signatures plus the client’s written authorization on outgoing wires and checks; funds only to a closing company or closing attorney’s trust. Jeff Whalen, Senior Vice President with Bridge Bank, is quoted on separate savings per exchange and the two allowed outflow paths. Optional QEA: notarized agreement; bank requires exchangor signatures plus two Starker Services, Inc. officers to wire. Dual-signature is therefore yes. QEA is optional, not the standing account. Confirm whether today’s deposit bank is still the Bridge Bank named in that quote.

Exchange page: simultaneous; delayed; improvement or construction (title-holding); reverse Type A (Exchange Last) and Type B (Exchange First); reverse/improvement combo; multi-property and multi-party. Reverse and improvement are therefore yes.

Homepage markets “Over 250,000 Successful 1031 Exchanges Completed!” and “nation’s oldest, largest and most experienced independent Qualified Intermediary.” Those are firm claims, not ratings. FAQ still says “almost two decades” in one answer — the homepage formation year is 1987.

Company FEA, CES® holders, E&O dollars, a fee card, float, and DST are not on the homepage, what-we-do, exchange, FAQ, or security pages opened 2026-09-16.

Office: 20 South Santa Cruz Avenue, Suite 304, Los Gatos, CA 95030. (800) 332-1031. Fax (408) 356-0808. 1031@starker.com.

Ask Starker Services, Inc. for today’s bond certificate, the live bank and account title, whether a QEA will actually be opened, and who the two officer signers are — then read those papers, not this summary.

Sources

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Listings are sourced from public pages. Unknown is omitted, not graded. If a fact is wrong or stale, send the primary URL.

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