Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

The buyer is entitled to posession immediately upon close of escrow unless the contract for sale of the property says otherwise, regardless of whether the seller has received the funds. The funds are available to and belong to the seller upon close of escrow, or the close should not happen. That they may be sitting in the escrow company's account in favor of the seller instead of in the seller's hands doesn't matter; they are still the seller's funds and the buyer owns the property. As for how long before the seller gets the money, that is between the seller and the escrow company. The seller could have arranged for same-day wire transfer. If that was not done, it depends on the escrow company's disbursement policies and proceedures for cutting and mailing a check.

Close of escrow is not a magic moment, it's just the end of a process, and it's a process that has been designed by the parties (buyer and seller) through their purchase agreement and escrow instructions.

99% of the time, escrow closes with exchange of money and papers, or perhaps more technically, when the escrow holder records the documents that have been exchaged. In a small number of unusual cases, money is held for delivery after the closing. For example -- and this is only one of many possible situations -- there might be a dispute among multiple sellers as to which is entitled to how much of the net proceeds of sale, and the escrow holder may have been instructed to hold the money pending an arbitrator's award. (This is a real-life example).

The buyer, similarly, is ordinarily entitled to possession upon delivery of the deed, but this too can be modified by agreement, such as when the seller has a short-term rental from the buyer to give more time to get moved out.

In your case, who knows? It could be for a valid reason, or it could be a paperwork slip-up, or somebody's mistake. Have you provided, for example, tax-ID papers, if requested? Escrow companies are pretty professional, but not perfect. The parties to escrow are paying for a service, and if there are issues with the quality of the service, the first place to ask for an explanation is the escrow officer assigned, or the escrow company's law department.