Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Well, the amount of time funds are held in escrow after a cancellation is generally determined by the other party, not the escrow company, which supposedly only follows instructions given it by the parties. California Civil Code section 1053.7 covers release of escrow funds, and in general when Party X makes written demand, Party Y must instruct or allow the escrow holder to release the funds within 30 days [CC 1057.3(b)]. However, there is no obligation to instruct the escrow holder to release the funds if there is a good faith dispute between X and Y. If indeed your deposit is being held too long because of the escrow company and not because of the other party's failure to allow the return of your deposit, this isn't covered by CC 1057.3, but such a situation would be rare because escrow companies don't want to get into major trouble over one escrow, and therefore will ordinarily release funds when duly instructed to do so.

The short version of Mr. Whipple's correct but long answer is "until they receive matching release instructions from both parties." Also, you cannot unilaterally cancel an escrow, nor is it cancelled just because the contingencies aren't cleared. A real estate escrow can only be cancelled by mutual instructions or court order.