How to Send Earnest Money to Title Company

You send earnest money to a title company by wire transfer, cashier's check, personal check, or a secure digital payment portal, depending on which methods that company accepts. The sequence is the same regardless of method: check your contract for the exact deposit deadline, ask the title company which payment forms it takes, verify the payment instructions by phone using a number you already have on file, send the funds, then call to confirm they arrived in escrow. Below we cover each step, the Florida deadline that governs your deposit, who is legally allowed to hold the money, and what happens to it after it lands.

How to Send Earnest Money to a Title Company

You send earnest money to a title company by following five steps in order: confirm your contract deadline, confirm the accepted payment methods, verify the instructions by phone, send the payment, and confirm receipt. Skipping the third step is where nearly every loss in this process begins.

1. Check the contract deadline. Your purchase agreement states the exact amount of the deposit and the date it must reach the escrow agent. Find that date before you do anything else.
2. Ask which payment methods are accepted. Call the title company or escrow officer and ask what forms of payment they take for an earnest money deposit. Policies differ by company and sometimes by deposit size.
3. Verify the payment instructions by phone. Call the title company on a number you already have on file, not a number printed inside the email that delivered the instructions, and confirm the bank name, routing number, account number, and file reference.
4. Send the payment. Initiate the wire through your bank, deliver the cashier's check in person, or submit the funds through the secure digital portal the title company provides.
5. Confirm receipt. Call the escrow officer after sending and confirm the funds arrived and were assigned to your file. Do not assume arrival because your bank marked the transfer complete.

Assuming arrival is the most common mistake after skipping verification, because a deposit that lands without a file reference can sit unassigned while a deadline passes. We confirm every incoming deposit directly with the buyer on each residential purchase we handle.

Do You Send Earnest Money to a Title Company?

You do send earnest money to a title company when the contract names that company as the escrow agent, and you never send it directly to the seller. The deposit is a good faith payment that signals you intend to complete the purchase, and it has to sit with a neutral party until the contract is performed or terminated.

A neutral party holds the funds so neither side can reach them unilaterally. The seller cannot spend the deposit while the inspection period runs, and the buyer cannot pull it back on a whim. That neutrality is the whole function of escrow, which we explain alongside the rest of the closing work a title and escrow company performs.

Performing that role starts with being named in the contract, which means the escrow agent is decided before any money moves. Who makes that selection varies by county and by negotiation, a question we cover in our post on who gets to choose the company handling your closing.

Can a Title Company Hold Earnest Money?

A title company can hold earnest money, and Florida Statute 626.8473 specifically authorizes a licensed title insurance agent to act as an escrow agent for funds received in a real estate closing. The statute does more than permit it. It sets the conditions under which those funds must be handled.

Handling conditions under that statute are strict. Funds received by a title agent are trust funds held in a fiduciary capacity and remain the property of the person entitled to them, not the title company. They must be deposited immediately into a Florida financial institution insured by the FDIC or NCUA, kept separate from the company's own operating funds, and tracked through separate records of every receipt and disbursement.

Separate records exist because the statute also makes conversion or misappropriation of escrow funds by a title agent a criminal offense. That combination of fiduciary duty, segregated accounts, insured deposits, and criminal liability is why escrow with a licensed agency is the standard arrangement, a structure we break down further in our post on using a Florida title company to hold escrow.

Who Holds Earnest Money in Florida?

Earnest money in Florida is held by the escrow agent named in the purchase contract, which is usually the title company, the listing broker, or a real estate attorney. All three operate under state oversight, though under different statutes and different regulators.

Different regulators produce slightly different duties. Title agencies answer to the escrow requirements in Chapter 626. Brokers answer to the Florida Real Estate Commission under Chapter 475. The contract decides which one receives your money, and the distinction between the two roles is covered in our post on how escrow and title functions differ.

When Is Earnest Money Due?

Earnest money is due on the date written into your purchase contract, which under the standard Florida Realtors and Florida Bar form defaults to 3 days after the effective date when no other period is filled in. The effective date is the day the last party signed and delivery of the accepted offer was completed.

Completing delivery of the funds is a separate matter from starting it, and the distinction catches buyers every season. Delivery means the money reaches the escrow agent. A wire initiated on day three that settles on day four has missed the deadline, and a missed deposit deadline can give the seller grounds to treat the contract as breached.

Breach risk is also why a second clock exists on the professional side. Florida Administrative Code Rule 61J2-14.008 requires escrow funds to be deposited no later than the end of the third business day after they are received. Your contractual deadline and that deposit duty are two different obligations running on two different schedules.

Running both schedules smoothly is easier when the file is open before the deposit arrives. Buyers and agents in Miami can order title with us the day a contract is executed so the escrow instructions are ready well ahead of the deadline.

What Payment Methods Do Title Companies Accept for Earnest Money?

Title companies accept wire transfers, cashier's or certified checks, personal checks in some cases, and secure digital earnest money portals. Each company sets its own policy, and the deposit amount sometimes determines which options are available to you.

• Wire transfer. Sent bank to bank, traceable through the Federal Reserve system, and the standard choice for larger deposits.
• Cashier's or certified check. Issued by your bank against verified funds and delivered in person or by your agent, with a signed receipt.
• Personal check. Accepted by some companies for smaller deposits, though it takes several days to clear and is not universally permitted.
• Digital earnest money portal. A secure platform that pulls the deposit directly from your bank account and attaches your file information automatically.

Attaching file information automatically matters more than it sounds, which the table below reflects alongside the speed and traceability of each option as reported by escrow platform providers and standard banking practice.

MethodTypical SpeedTraceabilityFile IdentificationWire transfer2 to 4 business hoursFull, through a federal reference numberManual; depends on the reference you enterCashier's checkSame day on deliveryThrough the issuing bankManual; requires a memo line and a receiptPersonal checkSeveral business days to clearThrough the issuing bankManual; requires a memo line and a receiptDigital portal3 to 4 business daysFull, with status visible to all partiesAutomatic; attached when the payment is created

The speed column is the one to weigh against your contract deadline, since a method that takes four business days cannot satisfy a three day delivery window. We confirm the right method for your timeline before the deposit is due on every home purchase file we open.

How Do I Wire Earnest Money?

You wire earnest money by obtaining the escrow instructions from the title company, verifying every field of those instructions by phone on a known number, and initiating the transfer at your bank with your file reference included. The verification call is the step that protects the money.

Money moves faster than a correction, which is why the reference number deserves as much attention as the account number. An earnest money wire that arrives without a file reference can sit unidentified in the escrow account while your deadline runs, since the receiving company has no way to match it to your transaction.

Matching funds to a transaction is routine when the reference is included. The full wire sequence, the red flags that signal fraudulent instructions, and what to do if a transfer goes wrong are covered in depth in our post on how to safely wire your funds to a title company.

Is It Safe to Wire Money to a Title Company?

It is safe to wire money to a title company as long as you verify the instructions by phone before sending, using a number you obtained independently of the email that delivered them. The wire itself is not the vulnerability. Fraudulent instructions are.

Fraudulent instructions reach buyers through compromised email accounts, and the scale is documented. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported $275.1 million in real estate fraud losses during 2025, while Business Email Compromise, the mechanism behind most of it, accounted for $3.04 billion in total losses across all sectors that year.

That year also produced a useful measure of how often risk indicators appear at all. FundingShield reported that 46 percent of transactions it tracked in the fourth quarter of 2025 were flagged for wire or title fraud risk, which does not mean half of all deals saw fraud. It means roughly half showed something a verification call was built to catch.

Catching it early matters because recovery is time sensitive. The FBI's Recovery Asset Team achieved a 58 percent recovery rate on intercepted wire fraud in 2025, and that rate falls as hours pass. We never change payment instructions by email, and we verify every incoming deposit by phone in both directions.

What Is a Digital Earnest Money Deposit?

A digital earnest money deposit is an electronic payment made through a secure escrow platform that pulls the funds directly from your bank account and attaches your transaction details automatically. Your agent or the title company creates the payment request, you receive a secure link, and you authorize the transfer from your own banking login.

Your own banking login is the security advantage. No account number is written on a check, photocopied into a file, emailed as an image, or left on a copier. Platform providers report that payments typically process in 3 to 4 business days, with automated status updates going to the buyer, the agent, and the escrow holder throughout.

Throughout that window every party can see where the money stands, which removes the end of the common guessing game about whether a deposit landed. Paper is not automatically the safer choice here either, since both personal and certified checks are used fraudulently in real estate transactions, and a check carries your routing and account numbers on its face.

How Do I Know My Earnest Money Arrived?

You know your earnest money arrived when the escrow officer confirms by phone that the funds posted to the escrow account and were applied to your file. Your bank confirming that a wire was sent is a different fact from the title company confirming it was received.

Received funds should produce three things on your side: a confirmation or reference number from your bank or the portal, a verbal confirmation from the escrow officer, and a written escrow receipt or deposit letter naming your file. Ask for the written receipt if it is not offered, because it is the document your agent and the seller's side will want.

Wanting documentation early is a good habit for the rest of the file too, since the deposit is only the first item we collect. The full list is in our post on the documents we need to open and work a closing.

What Happens to Earnest Money After You Send It?

After you send earnest money, it is deposited into a segregated escrow trust account and held there until closing, when it is credited toward your down payment and closing costs. The funds do not go to the seller, the agent, or the title company's own accounts at any point.

At no point does the escrow holder treat the deposit as its own money, because the statute makes it the property of whoever is entitled to it. The money sits untouched through inspection, appraisal, loan underwriting, and title clearance, and surfaces again on the settlement statement as a credit against what you owe at the table.

At the table the deposit reduces the amount you need to wire for closing, which is why your final figure is lower than the total cash due shown earlier in the process. We apply that credit on every residential closings file and show it as its own line so the math is visible.

Visible math continues after signing, since disbursement of all escrowed funds follows recording rather than the signing appointment. We cover that stretch in our post on how long a title company can hold funds after closing.

What Happens to Earnest Money If the Deal Falls Through?

If the deal falls through, the earnest money is returned or released according to the contingencies written into your purchase contract, and the escrow agent cannot release it to either side without proper authorization. The contract governs the outcome, not the preference of either party.

Either party gets protection from the same structure. The standard Florida Realtors and Florida Bar contract carries a 15-day inspection period by default, during which a buyer who cancels in writing typically recovers the deposit in full. Financing and appraisal contingencies provide additional defined windows, each with its own deadline.

Deadlines passing without a cancellation is what shifts the balance, since a buyer who walks away for a reason outside the contingencies may forfeit the deposit to the seller as compensation for time off the market. The contract spells out which reasons qualify, and reading those clauses during the inspection period is far easier than reading them afterward.

Afterward, if both sides claim the same funds, the escrow holder is required to follow a defined process rather than choose a winner. A broker holding the deposit must notify the Florida Real Estate Commission of conflicting demands within 15 business days, and the contract's own procedure, typically mediation first, governs the resolution. Buyers in Miami should expect that process to run on its own timeline, separate from the closing schedule we outline in our post on how long a closing takes at a title company.

Closing on schedule is the ordinary outcome, and the deposit simply becomes a credit. We keep buyers informed at each contingency deadline on every purchase closing so no window closes unnoticed.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Is Earnest Money on a $400,000 House?

Earnest money on a $400,000 house typically runs 1 to 3 percent of the purchase price, which is the common range in Florida residential transactions. The exact figure is negotiated and written into the contract rather than set by law, and competitive markets or luxury properties often call for a larger deposit.

How Long Does a Wire Transfer Take for $100,000?

A wire transfer for $100,000 takes 2 to 4 business hours to complete domestically, the same as a wire for any other amount, since the timeline depends on bank processing rather than the dollar figure. Daily cutoff times matter more than size. A wire initiated after your bank's cutoff may not process until the next business day.

How Much Does a $10,000 Wire Transfer Cost?

A $10,000 domestic wire transfer typically costs between $15 and $50 in bank fees, depending on your bank and whether you initiate it online or in person. The fee is charged by your bank rather than by the title company, and it does not scale with the amount being sent.

Can I Wire Transfer $50,000?

You can wire transfer $50,000, and there is no legal cap on domestic wire amounts. Individual banks set their own daily limits, and some require larger transfers to be initiated in person at a branch with photo identification. Confirm your bank's limit before your deposit deadline rather than on the day it is due.

What Happens If You Wire Transfer More Than $10,000?

If you wire transfer more than $10,000, your bank processes it normally and may file routine reporting paperwork required of financial institutions. Nothing is held, frozen, or delayed because of the amount alone. A documented real estate deposit sent to a licensed escrow account is an ordinary transaction with a clear paper trail behind it.

Do Wire Transfers Over $10,000 Get Reported to the IRS?

Wire transfers are not automatically reported to the IRS, though banks file a Currency Transaction Report for cash transactions exceeding $10,000 under federal reporting rules. A wire from your own account to an escrow account is not a cash transaction, and the settlement statement documents every dollar in the purchase.

What Are the Disadvantages of Wire Transfer?

The disadvantages of a wire transfer are that it carries a bank fee, cannot be reversed once the receiving bank accepts it, and requires exact instructions that must be verified before sending. Those limits are manageable with a verification call and a confirmed reference number, which is why wires remain the standard method for real estate funds.

The Bottom Line

Sending earnest money is a short process with one step that carries all the risk. Find your contract deadline, ask the title company which methods it accepts, verify the instructions by phone on a number you already trust, send the funds with your file reference attached, and call to confirm they landed. Florida gives you a defined window to deliver that deposit, and the escrow agent holding it operates under a statute that treats your money as trust funds rather than its own.

If you are under contract in Miami and want your escrow instructions verified before you send anything, that call takes a few minutes. Reach Liberty Title at +1 (305) 530-8998 and we will confirm every detail with you directly before a dollar moves.

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