Earnest Money

[Darrell Jones]

Hello everyone,

I have a question regarding earnest money and making sure the seller doesn't walk away with any earnest money I give him/her.  How do I protect myself from a seller disappearing with my earnest money for a property I put under contract?  I believe I was told to use my own escrow/title company or the sellers but how can I be sure that they will really put the money in escrow if they insist on using their own?