Two of my least favorite institutions combined into one problem!

[abejita]

With our current house, we've thought about eliminating the escrow and paying taxes and insurance directly. Frankly, it's a lot easier to leave out the middleman--assuming the bank will agree to it. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

Only mentioned it because she was thinking about it...

[Mr. Bloom]

Indy, even though it was charged from the escrow, the buyer may have an issue since the escrow analysis won't be completed for a year and then the amount of the overage may be spread out in reduced escrow over the following 12 months from that...if they are stretched for cash, it becomes messy.

[indysteel]

Indy, even though it was charged from the escrow, the buyer may have an issue since the escrow analysis won't be completed for a year and then the amount of the overage may be spread out in reduced escrow over the following 12 months from that...if they are stretched for cash, it becomes messy.

I assume the amount he'll have to pay into escrow next year will be adjusted downward to account for the extra money he now has in the account because he didn't pay the November installment. If he has too much, they may refund him some money now as, by law, they can only keep so much money in the escrow account to cover the year's taxes and insurances. Taxes on the house are relatively low so I doubt he's all that much over the amount they can retain, especially since they're entitled to cushion the account to some degree.

Either way, it's not all that relevant to me. I'm merely hoping his excrow analysis will prove to him that he did not pay the November installment. I assume if he feels strapped for cash, he'll just ignore my letter and I'll just have to eat it. If we were really talking about a substantial sum of money, then I'd file a small claims action against him if he refused to voluntarily refund the money. But because we're really just talking about a relatively small sum, if he ignores my request, I'm just going to go on my merry way. The point is that I have little to lose by sending him a letter that makes my case for a refund as clearly as possible. While the lender and the treasurer/auditor's role in all of this is irritating, it's the buyer who was enriched by the fact that I paid the November taxes, so for me, he's the logical and really only person to pursue.