What is Escrow Agent

Escrow Agent is a trust­ed third-par­ty which holds an asset or doc­u­ment on behalf of a first-par­ty for deliv­ery to ben­e­fi­cia­ry after a spec­i­fied time frame or upon the occur­rence of a con­di­tion or event spec­i­fied in the escrow agreement.

An escrow agent may be a third par­ty when it comes to sell­ing a home; the third par­ty will hold the deed in escrow until all of the terms of both the buy­er and sell­er are met. The buy­er may deposit the mon­ey for the pur­chase with the escrow agent, which serves to “val­i­date” the trans­ac­tion pri­or to last-minute clos­ing terms.

Whether the escrow agent is a com­pa­ny or an indi­vid­ual, the pur­pose they serve is that of a trust­ed third par­ty to transactions.