Also known as an escrow impound account, a mortgage impound account is a financial account set up by a bank or a lender to collect the cost of property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and mortgage insurance (if the down payment is less than 20%).
Borrowers make monthly payments in this account equal to 1/12 of their total annual property tax and homeowner’s insurance costs.
The lender will then use the funds collected in your impound mortgage account to pay the property taxes and homeowner’s insurance for you as and when they are due.
For example, if your property taxes and homeowner’s insurance are $4,000 annually, you’ll need to add about $333 to your mortgage payments (principal and interest).
As the tax rates change every year, your monthly impound payment is going to change based on this tax rate.
An impound mortgage account is particularly similar to a savings account but is committed to taxes and insurance.
Instead of paying a large lump sum every year or every six months, these fees are set up to be rolled into your mortgage payments, so you never have to worry about paying your home insurance and property taxes.