Escrow

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Guess I don't understand escrow. Guess my Bus. Admin. and Econ. degrees don't help me figure out business finance nowadays.

We have paid $152 into escrow for 7 months. They have paid $1459 in insurance and $1132 in property taxes.

Our insurance company has sent us two refunds of overpaid premiums.

I've talked to both our lender and insurance company, and they're cool with it.

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

I guess you will receive some revise bill to up your payment.

In the meantime, I probably will dump the bank stock your escow account was set to.

Jya-Ning

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

payment
bank
stock

My head is spinning with all these fancy business terms.

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

I assume this is a new loan (7 months old). At closing, I'm sure they collected a good chunk of $$ to "seed" the escrow fund so there is a good possibility there is still a positive balance in the fund. But the $157/mo. was based on an estimate of what your property taxes and insurance would be. As Jya-Ning says, they will definitely up your payment to cover future bills based on this year's bills that they paid out.

Personally, I don't like my mortgage company keeping my money just to pay it to the county and my insurance company. I have always requested no escrow and it has not been a problem. I can budget my money better than a bank, thank you very much.

Kurt

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Personally, I don't like my mortgage company keeping my money just to pay it to the county and my insurance company. I have always requested no escrow and it has not been a problem. I can budget my money better than a bank, thank you very much.

Kurt

We didn't have a choice.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

I agree with Kurt. Usually the escrow fund for insurance and taxes for the first year is paid up front through your closing costs when you financed.

I also pay the property taxes and insurance myself rather than through escrow.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

As usual- you've gotten good advice in this discussion. (TS4M members are the sharpest tools in the toolbox!)..

At closing, an estimated amount would have been taken for the taxes and insurance (often six months in many cases) and this would have been deposited into the escrow account. At the end of the year- the bank settles the escrow statement and refunds any overage. They will then recalculate the monthly amount for your next years payments. Most likely, the amount held will increase slightly (I know this seems stupid considering they gave you a refund, but it always seems to be the case).

What you want to watch for is to review your tax statement. You want to make sure you were only charged the lowest amount (most will show different levels of payment depending on when the assessment was actually paid). I've caught my bank once trying to bill me for the full amount, rather than the lower assessment with an early payment discount. If this happens, call then on it and you should be credited the difference.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Jim, you should have gone to Drake instead of ISU.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I intentionally made the OP sounds as if I am a dufus. I do understand what y'all are saying and can assure you it is not the case.

Yes, closing funds paid the first year of insurance (even though I set it up for quarterly payment myself the first year, so that the escrow could build up for the second year's payment), but, then, the insurance company refunded almost all of that amount directly to us, because the lender's check was dishonored, and the lender paid it again with ??????

Oh, never mind.

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

Please tell me the bank, I really want to open my escrow account with them and sell their stock.

Jya-Ning

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

We didn't have a choice.

Check w/ your mortgage company if you are interested in removing the escrow account. One time I refinanced I was required to set up the escrow as part of closing. But they allowed me to remove it after 1 year, as long as the loan-to-value ration was not over 80%. As soon as the 12 months were up, I got that closed.

I really hate letting the bank have anywhere from $500 to $2-3K (or more) of my money sitting in their account at all times. The customer has no control of that money, and earns no interest on it (although, that is not a big issue now with today's interest rates).

Kurt

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

One more time.

$457 was put in the escrow account at closing. $152 per month has been put in for 7 months.

(Reaching for my calculator)

$1521 total to escrow.

Paid out of escrow: $1429 for insurance, $1132 for property taxes.

Refunds to us from insurance company for "overpaid premiums": $1100