What is the Best Type of Escrow Holder?
Independent Escrow companies like iNational Closing & Escrow, Inc. are 100% neutral. They are licensed and governed by the State of California’s Department of Business Oversight and subject to following requirements:
- REQUIRED to be a member of Escrow Agents’ Fidelity Corporation which provide a $4 Million dollar fidelity bond;
- REQUIRED to pass a certification program, including fingerprints and background checks on all employees by U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation;
- REQUIRED to maintain state mandated minimum assets and financial liquidity;
- REQUIRED to have an annual independent audit by a certified public accountant;
- REQUIRED to submit to a surprise audit by the Department of Business Oversight;
- REQUIRED to have an Escrow manager onsite with at least 5 years experience;
Broker-Owned Escrow Departments are “in house” and governed by the Bureau of Real Estate.
Title Company Escrow Departments are “in house” and governed by the Department of Insurance.
Bank Escrow Departments are “in house” and governed by the Department of Financial Institutions.
And none of them are subject to the strict requirements set for Independent Escrow Holders.
To understand the Escrow process, you mainly need to understand that an Escrow company is in charge of holding funds, documents and instructions of a real estate sale and in making sure all of the details of your sale have been handled properly.
As an Independent Escrow company, you can rest easy knowing that we adhere to the highest level of ethics and professionalism.
