Maybe. Most money transmitter laws are extremely broad and none specifically exempt escrow companies (if the escrow is a division of a bank and governed by banking regulations, then it is exempt). Under a plain reading of the statutes, escrow companies are required to get a license.

That said, escrow is an extremely old concept -- using a trusted third person to guarantee payment/delivery -- and regulation of this industry has been around for, literally, hundreds of years. It just seems odd to add another layer of licensure and regulation (along with likely a different set of regulators who may not understand escrow) on top of their business.

There is some debate as to whether escrow companies need to be licensed as money transmitters, as well. Obviously, non-bank independent escrow companies are (or should be) against the idea but there's been no effort to exempt them from the laws like there has been with the recent effort to exempt payroll companies in California.