Section 778-A. Contracts requiring down payments in escrow

1. An escrow
  agent who undertakes to hold a buyer's down payment in the purchase  and
  sale  of  a  home  shall  have the fiduciary obligation to segregate and
  safeguard the buyer's down payment in a special bank account, and  shall
  not  commingle  such  down  payment  with the escrow agent's personal or
  business funds.
    2. A contract which requires that a down payment  be  held  in  escrow
  shall  identify  the escrow agent and the bank in which the down payment
  shall be deposited during the term of the escrow.
    3. An escrow agent shall not be required to maintain a down payment in
  a bank account which is separate from all other bank accounts,  provided
  the escrow agent's books of account and banking records shall accurately
  show the allocation to each owner of all funds that are deposited in the
  escrow agent's special bank account and all transactions relating to the
  receipt and disbursement of escrow funds.
    4.  Unless  the contract provides otherwise, an escrow agent shall not
  be required to deposit the down  payment  in  an  interest-bearing  bank
  account. If the escrow agent is an attorney admitted to practice in this
  state, a bank account authorized by section four hundred ninety-seven of
  the judiciary law shall be a lawful depository for down payments held by
  the attorney in escrow.
    5.  The  provisions  of  this  section  may  be  modified by a written
  agreement signed by the buyer, seller and escrow agent.
    6. The provisions of this section are not exclusive and do not relieve
  a  buyer,  seller  or  escrow  agent  from  compliance  with  all  other
  applicable  provisions  of  law,  or  from  civil  or criminal liability
  imposed by other applicable provisions of law.