The Escrow Holder may be any disinterested third party (although some states require that certain Escrow Holders be licensed).

There are two important reasons for selecting an established, independent Escrow firm, an attorney, or an Escrow Officer with a bank, S & L or Title Insurance company. One is that real estate transaction requires a tremendous amount of technical experience and knowledge to handle smoothly. The other is that the Escrow Holder will generally be responsible for safeguarding and properly distributing the purchase price.

Escrow Officers with established firms generally are experienced and trained in real estate procedures, Title Insurance, tax deeds and insurance. 

Impartiality

An Escrow Officer must remain completely impartial throughout the entire Escrow process. He or she will normally adopt a courteous but rather formal manner when dealing with parties to the Escrow, keeping conversations to the matters at hand in the Escrow. This formal behavior is meant for the benefit of all concerned, since the Escrow Officer must follow the instructions of both parties without bias.