A deposit check from a buyer paid upon the submission of an offer may be held without being deposited into the broker's escrow account:

New Jersey Administrative Code (N.J.A.C.) 11:5-5.1(g) permits a broker, if so directed in writing by the parties, to retain an earnest-money check un-deposited “until the offer is accepted and the attorney-review period required by N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.2(g) has terminated.” The rule then requires that the funds be placed in the broker’s escrow (trust) account “within five business days after the termination of the attorney-review period.” Therefore, the maximum time the check may legally remain un-deposited is the attorney-review period plus five additional business days, exactly the situation described in option D.

A. Rule allows the check to be held beyond acceptance until attorney review ends; choice omits that additional time, so is incomplete.

B. Inspections occur later and are not recognized by N.J.A.C. 11:5-5.1 as a lawful reason to delay deposit.

C. Five days after receipt applies only when no written instruction to defer exists; rule (g) creates a separate, longer allowance when attorney review applies.

1. New Jersey Administrative Code 11:5-5.1(g), Trust Money, “deposit within five business days after the termination of the attorney-review period.” (2023 ed., pp. 87-88).

2. New Jersey Administrative Code 11:5-6.2(g), Residential Contract–Attorney Review clause requirements (2023 ed., p. 102).

3. New Jersey Real Estate Commission Bulletin, “Escrow/Trust Account Requirements,” May 2019, para. 3-4 (confirms five-day rule after attorney review).

4. Rutgers University Center for Real Estate, “Real Estate Brokerage Regulation” lecture notes, Week 4, slide 9 (summarises N.J.A.C. 11:5-5.1(g) timing).