In California, your deposit stays protected until you sign the written contingency releases, and contingencies do not expire on their own. The standard California purchase contract gives you a window, typically 17 days though it can be negotiated shorter, to investigate the home, your financing, and the appraisal. During that window your contingencies are in place and your earnest money is protected. The detail that surprises people: contingencies have to be actively released in writing. If your loan contingency was never signed off and the loan then fails to get full underwriting approval, your deposit is still protected, even past day 17. So the milestone that matters is the written release. Once you have formally removed your contingencies, including the loan contingency, your deposit is at risk from that point forward if the loan fails to fund. Signing loan documents, by itself, changes nothing. Be certain your financing is truly solid before you release, never after. This is specific to how California handles it. Other states use different contracts and timelines, some with very different rules on when a deposit becomes non-refundable, so confirm how your state works and read your own contract; the dates and terms in your deal are what actually govern.