In Pennsylvania, earnest money deposits must be placed in escrow within:

While '24 hours' sounds precise and protective, it is not the standard Pennsylvania uses; the state's regulation specifically references 'the end of the next business day,' which accounts for weekends and holidays and is therefore a more practical and legally accurate standard.

A 'reasonable time as agreed in writing' is a contractual flexibility standard used in some other contexts, but Pennsylvania law does not leave the escrow deposit timeline to the parties' discretion — it imposes a mandatory statutory deadline to ensure uniform consumer protection regardless of what the parties might negotiate.

Five business days is far too long under Pennsylvania law and would create an unacceptable window during which the funds are unprotected; this timeframe is sometimes confused with other states' requirements or with certain lender-related deadlines, but it does not apply to earnest money escrow deposits in Pennsylvania.