Legal analysis: If the intermediary is authorized by the agent, it is legal to collect the deposit. If the intermediary is not authorized, it is illegal for the intermediary to collect the deposit when signing the purchase contract. If the house purchase contract is signed directly with the intermediary, it is legal for the intermediary to collect the deposit. The deposit contract is established when the deposit is delivered.

Legal basis: Measures for the Administration of Real Estate Agents

Article 24 If the parties to a real estate transaction agree that the real estate brokerage agency shall collect and pay the transaction funds on behalf of them, they shall transfer the transaction funds through the special deposit account for customer transaction settlement funds opened by the real estate brokerage agency in the bank.

The transfer of transaction funds shall be signed and sealed by the payer of real estate transaction funds and the real estate brokerage institution.

Twenty-fifth real estate brokerage institutions and real estate brokers shall not have the following acts:

(a) fabricating and spreading information about price increases, or colluding with real estate development and business units to speculate on the number of houses and manipulate market prices;

(two) to conceal the real information of the house transaction from the parties to the transaction, and sell (rent) the house at a low price to earn the difference;

(3) soliciting business by concealment, fraud, coercion, bribery and other improper means, tricking consumers into trading or forcing them to trade;

(4) divulging or improperly using the personal information or business secrets of customers to seek illegitimate interests;

(five) in order to facilitate the parties to the transaction to avoid illegal purposes such as housing transaction taxes and fees, sign contracts with different transaction prices for the same house;

(six) to change the internal structure of the house and rent it out separately;

(seven) embezzlement and misappropriation of real estate transaction funds;

(eight) to buy and lease their own brokerage services;

(nine) to provide brokerage services for affordable housing and houses that do not meet the trading conditions;

(ten) other acts prohibited by laws and regulations.

Twenty-sixth real estate brokerage institutions should establish a business record system, truthfully record the business situation.

Real estate brokerage institutions shall keep real estate brokerage service contracts for a period of not less than 5 years.