Jeff Behm
Director, CPA
Jeff began his career in accounting nearly 40 years ago at a small firm in California, and only three years into his career was named partner at a larger California firm. In 1996, he founded his own firm, Behm & Company, in Newport Beach, California. Over the years, his firm merged with others until he joined the Landmark team in 2025. Today, he serves as an audit director at Landmark CPAs.
Jeff is an expert in the escrow, title, mortgage and realty industries and is a sought-after speaker and top advisor on compliance with California escrow law. Jeff was recently selected to serve on the California Escrow Law Advisory Committee for an unprecedented eighth two-year term.
Jeff’s practice has included a large concentration of clients in the escrow, title, mortgage and realty industries. Services provided include annual audits of financial statements and trust accounts, studies of internal accounting controls, best practices consultation, embezzlement audits, expert witness testimony and litigation support, consultation for escrow and title new licensees, consultation on compliance requirements of government oversight bodies, proper policies and procedures, profitability enhancement, and business expansion and combinations. Jeff has been sought out on numerous occasions by leaders in the industries for assistance on various real estate-related matters, and he has served in litigation support and expert witness capacities for attorneys on a variety of matters. During his career, he has performed nearly 3,000 independent audits, each with significant regulatory compliance work. At Landmark, Jeff’s duties include engagement quality reviews of the firm’s audits, reviews, compilations, and agreed-upon procedures. Additionally, Jeff oversees the firm’s largest engagement, in which procedures are performed on behalf of the State of Arkansas in each of the 75 counties in the state.
In the course of working with clients in several states across the Western United States, Jeff has worked with several state regulatory bodies, including:
•California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (previously the California Department of Business Oversight and California Department of Corporations)
•California Department of Insurance
•Arizona Department of Financial Institutions
•Nevada Department of Division & Industry, Division of Insurance
•State of Nevada Division of Mortgage Lending
•Oregon Real Estate Agency
•Washington Department of Financial Institutions
•Arkansas Office of Legislative Audit
•Arkansas Natural Resources Commission
Specialties
Education & Certifications
- California State University, Fullerton
- Post graduate work at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA) – California, Arkansas
Memberships
- American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
- Arkansas Society of Certified Public Accountants (ARCPA)
- California Society of Certified Public Accountants
Professional Accomplishments
- Compliance and escrow law speaker
- California Escrow Law Advisory Committee CPA Representative - Eight two-year terms
- Escrow Institute of California Member (1989-2022); sat on conference panels with senior California regulators
- California Escrow Association Member (1989-2022)
- American Escrow Association Member (1989-2022)
- California Land Title Association Member (1989-2022)
- Founding Director, Nano Financial Holdings, Inc. and Nano Banc; Former Chairman, Audit and Compliance Committee and Former Member, ALCO Committee
- At the request of the Special Administrator of Escrow Law, helped the state write three regulations for the California Code of Regulations