My husband and I purchased a house a year ago this December. We recently recieved a letter from our mortgage company telling us that we underpaid for our escrow for the taxes by almost $1500 and our mortgage will be going up by almost $170 a month if we cannot pay a lump sum now. There is no way we can afford this. This was there mistake. Shouldnt a mortgage company know what the taxes are and how much we need to put into it every month? Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do?
2007-11-26 15:29:53 · 7 answers · asked by vettech1328 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
This was NOT their "mistake". They set up an impound fund for part of your mortgage payment, and they put $$ into it each month which was determined by your prior year's taxes. When the new tax bill came in, your taxes went up, so apparently the fund is short $1500... or they are trying to get enough to pay the hike in last years taxes and ALSO get enough so that in one year, hopefully they have the entire amount needed to pay the tax bill when it arrives.
It's not a mistake on the part of the mortgage company when your property taxes go up. They don't get any advance notice. You need to pay the added $170/mo since you cannot pay them the entire amount up front.
If you don't like it, go gripe at your property tax assessor.
2007-11-26 15:36:24 · answer #1 · answered by Nedra E 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, the mortgage company knows exactly what your taxes are however, they will counter with the fact that you should know as well...The reason is when you closed your loan and signed that huge stack of forms before you received your keys they disclosed it to you in the midst of all those papers. If you bought a new build (one where there was a dirt lot before your home was built) than it was listed that your property taxes would be reassessed after the county reevaluates the worth of your land with your house on it, which of course causes the taxes to go up exponentially. If you bought a resale home than they still shuffled it in, leaving the burden on you.
You can either attempt a refi (which may be difficult if you haven't built any equity) through your current mortgage company or another lender, or call your mortgage company and proclaim that you have financial difficulties, most will rework your loan under new terms, although some will report this as such on your credit, letting anyone that views your credit report know that you have a "payment arrangement" with your mortgage company.
With the current economic state, no lender will want your house when they could have your money instead.
2007-11-26 15:44:14 · answer #2 · answered by gqslikk 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
This same thing happened to me and when I spoke to my cousin who is in real estate and an appraiser he told me it's based on the taxes going up. He also owns property and deals with it all of the time. My payment is going to go up to 185.00 a month or I have to pay 2,000 up front. Good luck to you, we are having a difficult time too on top of the so called break lease from the last apartment when the landlord told us we could get out of our lease but charged us a full months rent anyway, the holidays suck for me every year. Now I have a 2,000 payment to the mortgage company, 250.00 to the insurance company, and a 325.00 to the old apartment I live in on top of Christmas and everything.
2007-11-28 13:33:33 · answer #3 · answered by crymeariver 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not necessarily
frequently, properties are re-assessed at their new sale value after the sale occurs. This makes the taxes go up.
All the closing agent had to work with were the old tax bills [which are a public record]. And only those taxes are prorated between the old owner and you and adjested for at closing.
google will find the property tax appraiser's office in your area where you can read the laws under which they must operate.
you'll need to find the $170 a month
2007-11-26 15:36:37 · answer #4 · answered by Spock (rhp) 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The bare fact is if you fail to pay, you will end up losing your house. Think that's bad. On a house I owned they discovered an $8000 assessment to the frontage 20 years before I bought it. And I was the 2nd owner after. I thought that was what title protection was for. But I was the one who had to pay and with interest. Title and mortgage companies and government and insurance companies all have one thing in common. You simply cannot win against them and they know it.
2007-11-26 15:44:23 · answer #5 · answered by genghis1947 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
My experience is that Mike is a moron! He can never seem to grasp the concept of a question and thus he may be a top contributor, but a top contributor of crap! Ignore Mike, stick with the first 2 answers!
2007-11-26 15:44:45 · answer #6 · answered by 321 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I recommend that you contact an attorney who specializes in real estate law.
Unfortunately my experience with people at mortgage companies is that they are very poorly trained. They do not know what they are doing.
They are trained as salespeople and nothing more.
2007-11-26 15:38:50 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋