The short version
Deposits reach the trust account by the end of the 3rd business day after the sales associate received them. Escrow money lives in a separate trust account in a Florida depository, reconciled monthly. If the buyer and seller both claim it, the broker notifies the FREC within 15 business days and starts one of four settlement procedures within 30 business days.
The deposit clock, and how to count it
The rule reads simply and is misread constantly: escrow funds must be placed in the trust account no later than the end of the third business day after the sales associate received them. Two details do the damage.
Worked example. An associate takes an earnest money check on Friday. Saturday and Sunday are not business days, so Monday is the first business day, Tuesday the second, and Wednesday the third. The latest lawful deposit is the end of Wednesday. Learn to count it that way once and the exam questions on it become arithmetic.
Separately, a broker who is required to deliver a deposit onward to the proper escrow holder must do so immediately, in accordance with the terms of the contract.
Who is allowed to hold the money
| Holder | May hold escrow? |
|---|---|
| The broker, in the brokerage trust account | Yes |
| A title company | Yes |
| An attorney | Yes |
| A sales associate, in their own name or account | Never |
An associate who receives funds delivers them promptly to the broker; the broker handles the escrow. An associate depositing client money into a personal account is both mishandling trust funds and holding escrow they may not hold.
When a title company or attorney holds the escrow instead of the listing broker, the broker must, upon request, give the buyer and seller written confirmation of the name and address of the entity holding the funds.
The two limits, and the two ways to break them
A broker may keep a small amount of their own money in a trust account to cover bank service charges — and the ceiling depends on which kind of account it is.
| Account | Maximum broker funds |
|---|---|
| Sales escrow account | $1,000 |
| Property management escrow account | $5,000 |
Exceed it and you are commingling. Keeping $2,500 of operating money in a sales escrow account “just to be safe” on fees is a violation for that reason alone.
The point of the separation rule is that client money must stay identifiable and separate — beyond the reach of the brokerage's creditors and unavailable for its expenses.
Interest-bearing accounts
Escrow deposits may be placed in an interest-bearing account only with the written consent of all interested parties, and that written agreement must specify who receives the interest. If the agreement is silent on the interest, the account should not be opened at all until it is settled.
Monthly reconciliation
Every escrow account is reconciled at least monthly. A proper reconciliation compares three figures and confirms they agree:
The DBPR, through the Division of Real Estate, conducts office inspections and audits of broker escrow accounts. Recordkeeping and reconciliation failures found in an audit can lead to FREC discipline including fines, suspension or revocation.
When both sides claim the deposit
A buyer demands the deposit back; the seller demands it be forfeited. If the broker genuinely cannot determine who is entitled to it, that is a good-faith doubt, and together with conflicting demands it triggers a fixed sequence.
| Step | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Notify the FREC in writing | Within 15 business days of the last demand |
| Institute one of the four settlement procedures | Within 30 business days |
Both deadlines matter independently. A broker who notifies the FREC on business day 12 and then does nothing for two months has still violated the rule, by failing to institute a settlement procedure within 30 business days.
The four authorized settlement procedures
Filing a complaint with the local police is not one of them, tempting as it may feel.
The EDO carries a practical advantage: a broker who disburses in good faith according to an FREC Escrow Disposition Order is relieved of further liability for that disbursement.
One exemption is worth knowing. If a title company or attorney holds the escrow and conflicting demands arise, the duty to notify the FREC and institute a procedure rests with the party actually holding the funds — not with the broker.
This page explains Chapter 475 and the FREC escrow rules in general terms. It is not legal advice, and it does not address how much a deposit should be or who wins a particular dispute — those are contract questions. Verify current requirements with the DBPR.
Escrow is a tenth of the exam for a reason
Escrow Management & Trust Accounts is one of the twelve content areas on the Florida Real Estate Broker Examination, and the questions are unusually literal: a number of days, a dollar ceiling, the name of a procedure. Those are the easiest points on the exam to earn and the easiest to throw away.
Numbers you can recite are points you keep
FLBrokerPro drills all 12 content areas with 344 exam-style questions and a plain-English explanation on every answer — escrow deadlines, limits and settlement procedures included.