Arizona Laws 6-834. Deposit of monies; definition
A. Unless all of the parties to the escrow otherwise instruct the escrow agent in writing, the escrow agent shall deposit and maintain all monies deposited in escrow to be delivered on the close of the escrow or on any other contingency in a bank, savings bank or savings and loan association doing business in this state and the escrow agent shall keep all of the escrow monies separate, distinct and apart from monies belonging to the escrow agent. Notwithstanding the parties’ instructions to the escrow agent, the escrow agent shall not deposit the escrow monies in an institution outside the United States. When deposited, the monies shall be designated as "escrow accounts" or given some other appropriate designation indicating that the monies are not the monies of the escrow agent. These monies shall be deposited immediately on receipt or as soon thereafter as is reasonably practicable.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 6-834
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Bank: means a corporation that holds a banking permit issued pursuant to chapter 2 of this title. See Arizona Laws 6-101
- Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
- Escrow: means any transaction in which any escrow property is delivered with or without transfer of legal or equitable title, or both, and irrespective of whether a debtor-creditor relationship is created, to a person not otherwise having any right, title or interest therein in connection with the sale, transfer, encumbrance or lease of real or personal property, to be delivered or redelivered by that person upon the contingent happening or nonhappening of a specified event or performance or nonperformance of a prescribed act, when it is then to be delivered by such person to a grantee, grantor, promisee, promisor, obligee, obligor, bailee or bailor, or any designated agent or employee of any of them. See Arizona Laws 6-801
- Escrow agent: means any person engaged in the business of accepting escrows. See Arizona Laws 6-801
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Property: includes both real and personal property. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Writing: includes printing. See Arizona Laws 1-215
B. A person shall not knowingly keep or cause to be kept any monies in any bank or savings and loan association under the heading of "escrow accounts" or any other name designating the monies as belonging to the clients of any escrow agent, except actual escrow monies deposited with such escrow agent.
C. Escrow property is not subject to execution or attachment on any claim against the escrow agent.
D. Not later than three business days after receipt of any escrow monies, the escrow agent shall provide to each depositing buyer or seller, adequate notice of his right to earn interest on all deposited monies. The notice shall accurately set forth the following information with respect to this right:
1. A brief description of the depositor’s right to earn interest on escrowed monies through an interest-bearing deposit account.
2. The dollar charge that may be imposed by the escrow agent solely to set up the interest-bearing account.
3. A good faith estimate of the amount of interest that may be earned during the life of the escrow account, or an example of a typical transaction calculated on a one thousand dollar deposit, using the prevailing savings account interest rate for a thirty day period.
4. A brief description of how the interest-bearing account can be established, including the name, address and telephone number of the escrow agent to be contacted.
E. An escrow agent shall not receive from any depository institution any interest earned or other benefit from monies deposited with an escrow agent in connection with any escrow. Nothing in this subsection prohibits the escrow agent from receiving accounting, data processing or other services directly related to the administration of escrow accounts.
F. For the purposes of this article, "adequate notice" means a printed notice to the depositing buyer or seller that sets forth the pertinent facts clearly and conspicuously. The notice shall be printed on the escrow instructions or on an independent document and given to the depositing customer in a manner reasonably assuring the customer’s receipt of the notice.