Pertaining to an agent, a title company, or a bank which has a special account that includes a deposit for a sale until all of the conditions have been met and then the closing will take place and the money will be transferred to the seller: The escrow agent acts as a neutral party in the sales transaction and facilitates the sale by allowing the buyer and the seller to close the business agreement without having to exchange documents and funds.

1. A legal document; such as, a deed, a bond, money, stock, or other property that is delivered by a grantor to a third person, or party, which is kept in custody until certain requirements have been fulfilled by the other parties: The term escrow originally applied only to instruments for the conveyance of land, but it is now used for all written items including mortgages, bonds, promissory notes, life insurance policies, patents, stock certificates, and even money deposited to be held until the performances of specified actions have been accomplished.

Hayden put his rent payment in escrow until the landlord fixed the broken water pipes.

The company put the workers' salaries in escrow pending a settlement in wage increases.

2. Etymology: from Middle French escroe, "scrap, scroll" and it was also borrowed through medieval Latin scroda into Old French as escroe, where its meaning of "cut piece, strip" evolved into "strip of parchment".

To place funds with an agent or a bank until the time comes to transfer the title received from the seller and any money that has been received from the buyer is closed with the recording of the deeds, obtaining title insurance, and any other concurrent closing activities that have been concluded: There are often costs that must be escrowed for fees of services; including those performed by the lender, escrow agent, and the title company; depending on the amount of the mortgage loan and other aspects of the sale.

It is common in American real-estate law for all types of documents to be escrowed; that is, holding them with the understanding that they will not be released until certain actions have been accomplished or concluded.