There is no question that an assignment of the contract rights to the Qualified Intermediary (QI) must occur in the exchange process in the overwhelming majority of cases. It is clear in the IRS Regulation 1.1031(k)-1(g)(4)(iv) and (v) that “if the rights of a party to the agreement are assigned to the intermediary and all parties to that agreement are notified in writing of the assignment on or before the date of the relevant transfer of property” the QI is treated as entering into the agreement. (The assignment document and notification to all parties are normally provided by the QI.) [...]