Escrow
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- A financial instrument held by a third party on behalf of the other two parties in a transaction. The funds are held by the escrow service until it receives the appropriate written or oral instructions-or until obligations have been fulfilled. Securities, funds, and other assets can be held in escrow.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency - Cite This Source - This Definition - Account holder, Electronic banking, Foreign transaction fees, Joint account, Online banking, Point of sale (POS), Statement
When someone else holds assets of yours until the terms of a contract or an agreement are fulfilled, your assets are said to be held in escrow. The assets could be money, securities, real estate, or a deed.
The person or organization that holds the assets is the escrow agent, and the account in which they are held is an escrow account.
For example, if you make a down payment on a home, the money is held in escrow until the sale is completed or the deal falls through.
Amounts you prepay to cover property taxes and insurance premiums as part of your regular mortgage payment are also held in escrow until those bills come due and are paid. In that case, you may earn interest on the amount in the escrow account.
Yahoo Finance - Cite This Source - This Definition- Escrow agent, Full faith and credit, Good faith deposit, home equity, Lease, Negotiable, Personal Residence
- The holding of money or documents by a neutral third party before closing on a property. It can also be an account held by the lender (or servicer) into which a homeowner pays money for taxes and insurance.
The Federal Reserve Board - Cite This Source - This Definition - An item of value, money, or documents deposited with a third party to be delivered upon the fulfillment of a condition. For example, the deposit by a borrower with the lender of funds to pay taxes and insurance premiums when they become due, or the deposit of funds or documents with an attorney or escrow agent to be disbursed upon the closing of a sale of real estate.
Federal Trade Commission - Cite This Source - This Definition - Money placed with a third party for safekeeping either for final closing on a property or for payment of taxes and insurance throughout the year.
Ginnie Mae - Cite This Source - This Definition - Funds held in an account to be used by the lender to pay for home insurance and property taxes. The funds may also be held by a third party until contractual conditions are met and then paid out.
US Department of Housing and Urban Development - Cite This Source - This Definition - Buydown, Co-Signed Account, Escrow Account, Escrow analysis, Impound account, Individual retirement account (IRA), inflation, Lease Purchase (Lease Option), Servicer, Servicing, Trust account, Vested
- Money or a written instrument such as a deed that, by agreement between two parties, is held by a neutral third party (held in escrow) until all conditions of the agreement are met.
US District Court - Northern District of NY - Cite This Source - This Definition - Alternative dispute resolution, appellee, Arbitrator, Conciliation, ex parte, Ex parte proceeding, issue, Mediation, No-fault Proceedings, Right of way, Settlement
- Something (e.g., a document, an encryption key) that is "delivered to a third person to be given to the grantee only upon the fulfillment of a condition."
NIST - Cite This Source - This Definition - Cryptology, Data Encryption Algorithm (DEA), Data Encryption Standard (DES), Encrypted Key, Encrypted Network, encryption, End to End Encryption, Initialization Vector (IV), Key Bundle, Link Encryption, Payload, Rijndael, Triple DES