By what date must earnest money received on January 21, observed as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, be deposited?

Earnest money, which is the money a buyer provides as a show of good faith when making an offer on a property, typically has specific deadlines for deposit set by real estate regulations. In this scenario, the earnest money was received on January 21, which is a holiday (Martin Luther King Jr. Day). Because of the holiday, the rules allow for the deposit to be made on the next business day.

Since January 21 falls on a holiday, the next business day would be January 22. However, there is an additional rule that mandates that earnest money must be deposited within a certain timeframe following the receipt of it. Typically, this timeframe is one business day after the holiday if the holiday falls on a day when the offices are closed. Therefore, January 22 is the first business day, and the earnest money must be deposited by the end of that day.

In this case, since January 22 is the start of the next business day, the correct answer becomes January 23, the date by which the earnest money must be deposited after factoring in the holiday and the one-business-day rule after the holiday. This aligns with standard practices in the real estate industry regarding earnest money.