1. A legal document or property delivered by a promisor to a third party to be held by the third party for a given amount of time or until the occurrence of a condition, at which time the third party is to hand over the document or property to the promisee (the agent received the escrow two weeks before the closing date). [Cases: Deposits and Escrows 11–26. C.J.S. Depositaries §§ 4–5, 8–10, 13–25, 27; Escrows§§ 2–15.]
2. An account held in trust or as security (the earnest money is in escrow).
— Also termed escrow account; impound account; reserve account. See escrow account under ACCOUNT. [Cases: Deposits and Escrows 11. C.J.S. Depositaries §§ 4–5, 8–9; Escrows§§ 2–3, 6.]
3. The holder of such a document, property, or deposit (the attorney performed the function of escrow).
— Also termed escrow agent. [Cases: Deposits and Escrows 13. C.J.S. Depositaries §§ 15–17; Escrows §§ 8–10.]
4. The general arrangement under which a legal document or property is delivered to a third person until the occurrence of a condition ( creating an escrow). — escrow, vb.
“Like ‘scroll’ and ‘scrawl,’ the word ‘escrow’ is derived from the Norman-French word for a writing or a written instrument. It has come in practice to refer to a security device: one or both parties to a transaction deposit property or an instrument with a third party until some condition has occurred. The property or instrument may be referred to as ‘the escrow’; the delivery is said to be ‘in escrow.’ ” Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 103 cmt. a (1979).
