Escrow Management for Single-Family Residential Property. Phase 2. Report onServicer Survey

摘要

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report completes the firstcomprehensive study of escrow management practices in the home mortgage servicing industry. The second volume of the study examines actual escrow management policies and practices by surveying selected accounts of more than 200 mortgage servicers, including the 20 largest companies in the industry. Two other components of servicing-preaccrual and reserve-have a greater impact than the choice of accounting method on the average annual balances that determine float value. Using the single-item accounting method, approximately 10 percent of mortgages are overescrowed with respect to the legal maximum; however, almost two-thirds of all mortgages maintained balances that were less than half the maximum allowed. The survey found that State tax collection policy and servicer escrow policy were the two most important factors in determining average balance.