Why did my mortgage payment change?
Start with your old and new payment. We’ll help you work through what changed.
Next, let’s work out where that change came from.
Open only the groups you know. Blank stays unknown. If a known amount was actually zero, enter 0.
Principal + interest Not added
This is the base loan-payment component before escrow, mortgage insurance and other additions.
Where do I find this?
Look at the payment breakdown on your monthly mortgage statement. If your principal and interest amount changed on a fixed-rate loan, check for a temporary buydown ending, a loan modification, or another loan-specific change.
Property taxes Not added
Use the annual tax bill, not appraised value.
Where do I find this?
Use the annual amount on your county tax bill or your servicer’s escrow analysis. If you pay property taxes directly, a tax change affects your household cost but is not attributed to the mortgage payment here.
Homeowners insurance Not added
Use the annual premium from the policy renewal or declarations page.
Where do I find this?
Use the annual premium on the policy renewal or declarations page. If you pay insurance directly, the premium can change your household cost without changing the payment sent to your mortgage servicer.
Escrow shortage repayment Not added
This is the monthly amount specifically being collected to repay a prior escrow shortage. Compare the old repayment with the new repayment.
Where do I find this?
Look at the annual escrow analysis for language such as shortage, deficiency, repayment, or spread over 12 months. Do not enter the total shortage balance if the tool is asking for the monthly repayment amount.
Other payment changes Not added
Use this for monthly mortgage insurance or another recurring item collected with the mortgage.
Check a known tax, insurance or shortage change
This mode shows the monthly change we can calculate from the numbers you know. It does not predict your servicer’s next payment.
One payment can move for several different reasons.
Recurring costs
If taxes or insurance are escrowed, annual bill changes can change the monthly amount your servicer collects.
Temporary shortage repayment
A prior escrow shortfall can add a separate repayment amount. That is different from the new ongoing monthly need.
Loan or other changes
Principal and interest, mortgage insurance, fees, or other loan-specific items can also move the payment.
A $160 increase can contain two very different kinds of change.
This example is intentionally simple. It shows why recurring cost and temporary shortage repayment should not be lumped together.
The full $160 increase is real, but only $110 of it is the recurring tax-and-insurance change in this simplified example. The extra $50 is shortage repayment.
Check the bill your escrow analysis is trying to pay.
Use the official county source for the actual tax bill or payment history. Appraised value is not the same thing as the tax amount due.
Questions homeowners usually ask next.
Why did my mortgage payment go up if I have a fixed interest rate? +
Can my mortgage payment go down when taxes or insurance go down? +
What is an escrow shortage? +
Why does this tool ask whether my mortgage company pays taxes and insurance? +
Why can’t the tool explain every dollar of my payment change? +
What should I do if the payment still does not make sense? +
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: mortgage payments can change when escrowed property taxes or homeowners insurance change, and other loan or servicing factors can also matter. Source.
- CFPB escrow guidance: escrow accounts use part of the monthly mortgage payment to pay certain property-related bills, and those escrow amounts can change. Source.
- Federal escrow rule: Regulation X governs escrow-account analyses, shortages and related servicing requirements for covered loans. Source.
This tool is educational and uses the figures you enter. It does not reproduce a servicer’s full escrow analysis, verify a bill, or provide legal, tax, insurance or financial advice.
Keep the payment question attached to the property.
Send the address and what changed.
We can help organize the property questions worth taking to the tax office, insurance professional or mortgage servicer. Calculator numbers are not submitted with this help form. They are only shared if you separately choose “Email me my breakdown.”
