A few years back, when California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) made a major overhaul of their standard form purchase contract, the form became a "Purchase Agreement and Joint Escrow Instructions". I thought (and still do) this was a great idea. If the purchase document also serves as escrow instructions, it eliminates the problem of an unintentional conflict between "boiler plate" verbiage in the purchase contract and "boiler plate" verbiage in the escrow instructions.
Most escrow companies copy the C.A.R. contract, add their own three or four pages of instructions, and that's that. There are a few hold-outs, though: Escrow companies that have decided NOT to incorporate the standard purchase contract into their instructions. One I know of adamantly insists that using the C.A.R. purchase contract as joint escrow instructions makes the escrow holder a party to the contract.
I'm curious: What are brokers in other parts of California seeing? Do most of the escrow companies you deal with incorporate the C.A.R. contract with their instructions? Or not?
Hi Cheryl,
Most of the escow companies that we have worked with incorporate the C.A.R. contract with their instructions..
Scott