We hold the funds and track every disbursement — exactly as agreed, for as long as it takes.
We serve buyers, sellers, & lenders. And the professionals who represent them.
The types of services we administer
Real Estate Contracts & Promissory Notes
Seller-financed property sales, land sale contracts, and promissory notes serviced for the life of the agreement.
TYPICALLY INCLUDES:
- Seller-financed home sales and land sale contracts
- Amortization and interest, calculated and tracked accurately
- Safekeeping of deeds, titles, and original signed documents
- Payoff quotes and final reconveyance when the agreement is paid in full
- Annual statements, including tax reporting support
- Wrap-around mortgages and lease-purchase agreements
Trust Deeds & Private Lending
Payment servicing, reserve accounts, & payoff administration for private lenders and note investors.
TYPICALLY INCLUDES:
- Private mortgage note servicing and deed of trust administration
- Monthly payment collection and disbursement to lenders
- Reserve and impound account management for taxes and insurance
- Late payment tracking and notice coordination
- Payoff calculations and lien releases when a loan is paid off
- Multiple beneficiaries or fractional-interest splits, tracked individually
- Tax reporting for note holders
- Assignment or transfer of servicing when a note changes hands
Collection Escrow for Any Agreement
If there's an agreement, written instructions, & funds to hold — there's a good chance we can handle it.
TYPICALLY INCLUDES:
- Equipment, livestock, timber, & personal property sales
- Structured settlements and judgment payment schedules
- Business debt repayment plans
- Structured payouts between private parties
- Performance-based or milestone-linked releases
- Any non-standard agreement that needs a neutral party to hold and disburse funds
- Structured payments tied to prenuptial or postnuptial agreements
- Situations that don't have a name yet
Estates, Trusts, & Family Agreements
Distributions among heirs, family loans, & multi-generational property transfers. We handle the details so it never becomes a source of stress or division between family members.
TYPICALLY INCLUDES:
- Distributions among heirs and beneficiaries
- Family loans and multi-generational property transfers
- Trustee and fiduciary support
- Sibling or family member buyouts
- Divorce property settlements
- Long-term care and support arrangements (confirm scope)
Business Sales, Buyouts, & Earn Outs
The deal closes, but the payments don't stop. We track every installment, earn-out, and buyout until the very last one clears.
TYPICALLY INCLUDES:
- Installment purchases and business sales
- Partner and shareholder buyouts
- Earn-outs and revenue-share payment schedules
- Non-compete and consulting payment terms
- Holdback funds, released once conditions are met
Splitting Up
Divorce, business partnership dissolution, or any situation where people who built something together need to divide it fairly — even when the relationship hasn't ended well.
TYPICALLY INCLUDES:
- Divorce property settlements
- Business partner buyouts, amicable or not
- Sibling or family member buyouts
- Dividing jointly owned real estate or business interests
- Unmarried co-owners splitting shared property
- Buyouts between former partners who'll still cross paths afterward
Reserves, Impounds, & Special Handling
Taxes, insurance, and maintenance reserves — collected, tracked, & disbursed on schedule. We also handle agreements with holdbacks, contingencies, or other unusual conditions. These special case scenarios are what we're known for.
TYPICALLY INCLUDES:
- Property tax and insurance impounds
- Maintenance and repair reserves
- HOA special assessment payment plans
- Interest-bearing account arrangements (confirm with SEI)
- Split or variable payment allocations
- Holdbacks and contingencies
- Custom instructions we build from scratch
- Property tax and insurance impounds
"Santiam Escrow made the entire process easy. Whenever I had a question, someone was available to help, and I always felt informed from start to finish."
- Doug B.
Step 1
Reach out and tell us about your agreement — no phone tree, no call center, just a real person on the line.
Step 2
We build a custom plan around your specific situation, because no two agreements are exactly alike.
Step 3
We hold, track, and distribute funds exactly as agreed — accurately, neutrally, and for as long as it takes.
Step 4
You and everyone involved stay informed and protected, year after year.
Describe your situation. We’ll tell you if it’s a fit.
Important: SEI will never send revised wire instructions by email. Always verify wire instructions by calling our office using a known phone number before sending funds.
Security & Technology
Protecting your information matters as much to us as protecting your agreement. Our systems are monitored around the clock, with layered defenses including advanced ransomware and threat protection, secure email screening, dark web monitoring, and multi-factor authentication — plus daily cloud backups, so nothing is ever at risk of being lost. We partner with Kelley Create, a trusted technology and cybersecurity firm, to keep our systems current and our customers protected.
Security You Can Trust
At SEI, protecting our clients' information is a top priority. Our office is secured by a professionally monitored alarm system with door, window, glass-break, and motion detection sensors, cellular communications, and around-the-clock monitoring to help ensure the safety of our facilities and records.