Upon further reflection I am not going to act as an escrow agent in these forums based upon the following important revelations:

1) You must be licensed to be an escrow agent in the USA
2) Becoming licensed requires a great deal of time and money 
    Getting licensed in all 50 states will cost at least $50k per year

I am still considering this but at this time this is a much more expensive undertaking that I had originally thought.   https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=216729

cleaned and locked.

Check this:
http://www.corp.ca.gov/Laws/Escrow_Law/License.asp

Here is where most people will fail to meet requirements:

"Financial requirements must be demonstrated through submission of audited financial statements that indicate that the company has liquid assets in excess of current liabilities of $25,000 and tangible assets in excess of total liabilities of $50,000. "

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!   I would not trust JohnK with one million dollars at this time.  I would certainly trust him with 1000 btc. 

It's an excellent idea.  More imporantly it's the law.

I fundamentally disagree. Trust is EXCATLY this.  It is something you build one step at a time.  Anything else is just "words".

Why do you trust johnk?  I trust him because he has a long track record of not screwing people.

I just came across some disturbing information.  It looks like America wants escrow agents to be licensed.  I don't think I need this headache.  Experiment ends here unless I find that escrow licenses are cheap.  

http://www.corp.ca.gov/Laws/Escrow_Law/Consumer.asp

Anyone know off hand what it requires to become a registered escrow agent?


You are all right to be suspicious.  Be suspicious of everything.  99 out of 100 times a post like mine should make you scared to death.  

I am that other guy.  The 1 in 100.  Unfortunately until I find out more about the laws on the matter I will not have a chance to demonstrate my character as an escrow agent.

I AM NOT ACTING AS AN ESCROW AGENT BECAUSE I AM NOT LICENSED IN THE USA TO DO SO.
STOP READING.  



Hello good people of the bitcoin world,

I am coming to you today to ask for your consideration of my employ as your escrow agent.  Obviously I am not yet trustworthy as I joined the site moments ago and this is only my fifth post.

What I propose to demonstrate my trustworthiness is to have you send me any amount of btc you wish to entrust me with and I will send it to the address of your choosing minus any network transaction fees (~0.0005 btc). I will not let you down.  

I want to be the number one escrow agent on this site available to one and all.  Once I achieve a certain level of respectability I'll launch a website to automate the process.  

FEES:
Single transactions will be charged a 2.5% fee or 0.1 BTC whichever is higher.
Second and all future transaction will cost 1%.


Give me a try, I will not dissapoint.  PM me if you'd like to test me.

Hello good people of the bitcoin world,

I am coming to you today to ask for your consideration of my employ as your escrow agent.  Obviously I am not yet trustworthy as I joined the site moments ago and this is only my fourth post.

What I propose to demonstrate my trustworthiness is to have you send me any amount of btc you wish to entrust me with and I will send it to the address of your choosing minus any network transaction fees (~0.0005 btc). I will not let you down.  

I want to be the number one escrow agent on this site available to one and all.  Once I achieve a certain level of respectability I'll launch a website to automate the process.  

FEES:
Single transactions will be charged a 2.5% fee or 0.1 BTC whichever is higher.
Second and all future transaction will cost 1%.


Give me a try, I will not dissapoint.  PM me if you'd like to test me.

I have to second this.  You want to make money with your $1000?  BUY AND HOLD BITCOIN.

second post HURRAY

I am so glad you guys implemented this.  The WOT system is SO HARD to use if you are not an engineer.  The problem that system creates is that very few actually use it.  Integrating trust into this system is exactly what we need.  

I hope you'll all trust me as I build my reputation as an escrow agent. 

If you'd like to test me, pm me and send me btc.  I'll send it back.  Any amount you choose.  I'll send it right back minus any transmission fee (~0.005) the network may require.

Need an escrow agent because you don't know who to trust?  I'm your agent.

Try me, you will not be disappointed.