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The Housing Site
Illinois Fair Housing Initiative

Fair Lending Laws

Escrow Limitations

Title Insurance Act

Subsection 17 of the Title Insurance Act (215 ILCS 155/17(a)) requires that:

(a) Every independent escrowee shall be subject to the same certificate and deposit requirements to which title insurance companies are subject under Section 4 of the Act.

The term "independent escrowee" is defined, in Subsection 3(9) of the Act (215 ILCS 155/3(9)) as follows:

(9) "Independent Escrowee" means any firm, person, partnership, association, corporation or other legal entity, other than a title insurance company or a title insurance agent, which receives deposits, in trust, of funds or documents, or both, for the purpose of effecting the sale, transfer, encumbrance or lease of real property to be held by such escrowee until title to the real property that is the subject of the escrow is in a prescribed condition. Federal and State chartered banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, mortgage bankers, banks or trust companies authorized to do business under the Illinois Corporate Fiduciary Act, licensees under the Consumer Installment Loan Act, real estate brokers licensed pursuant to the Real Estate License Act of 1983, as such Acts are now or hereafter amended, and licensed attorneys when engaged in the attorney-client relationship are exempt from the escrow provisions of this Act.