Escrow Payment Calculator
Your full PITI payment — principal, interest, property taxes and insurance — plus a check on whether your servicer’s cushion is within what RESPA allows.
Your renewal notice, not the quote you were given at closing.
Escrow is 21% of it — the part that can rise even though your rate is fixed.
Under RESPA your servicer may hold up to $1,100as a cushion — two months of escrow — above the running balance. If your annual escrow analysis shows a balance well beyond that, ask for the surplus back.
What the four parts of your payment actually are
Two of them go to your lender and two of them don’t. Principal reduces what you owe. Interest is the lender’s fee. Property taxes and homeowners insurance are collected on your behalf and passed to your county and your insurer — the servicer is a middleman holding your money until the bills arrive.
That split explains the question homeowners ask most often: why a fixed-rate payment went up. The rate is fixed, but the escrow half isn’t. A reassessment after a strong year for local house prices, or an insurance renewal after a bad storm season, lands entirely on the escrow line.
The cushion rule worth knowing
RESPA lets a servicer hold up to two months of escrow payments as a cushion above the running balance. On $550 a month of taxes and insurance that’s $1,100 — a buffer against timing mismatches, not a reserve fund.
The calculator above shows the ceiling for your numbers. If your annual escrow analysis shows a balance well beyond it, you are entitled to the surplus back, and servicers do get this wrong. Under RESPA a surplus of $50 or more generally has to be refunded within 30 days of the analysis.
What to check on your annual escrow statement
Three lines. First, the actual disbursements — does the tax figure match your county’s bill? Second, the projected payments for next year, which is where a servicer can quietly build in an increase that hasn’t happened yet. Third, whether a shortage is being repaid over twelve months, because that portion drops off after a year and your payment should fall accordingly. Diary it, because nobody reminds you.
For the full breakdown of how the account works, when it’s reanalysed, and how to challenge a number that looks wrong, read property taxes and your mortgage escrow, explained.