Impound

Escrow impound accounts are those accounts which lenders set up to collect "up-front" money from you when you take out a mortgage to cover future expenses such as property taxes and insurance. Lenders like to set up these impound accounts, as they are then certain that the property taxes and insurance will be paid on time, as they will be holding the money and paying these expenses for you. If you make a minimum down payment, you may be required to deposit funds into an impound account. The lender’s goal is to always have sufficient funds to pay your bills as they come due. Sometimes impound accounts are not required, but borrowers request one voluntarily. A few lenders even offer to reduce your loan origination fee if you obtain an impound account. However, if you are disciplined about paying your bills and an impound account is not required, you can probably earn a better rate of return by putting the funds into a savings account. Impound accounts are sometimes referred to as escrow accounts.

• Homeowners Insurance Impounds
  Your lender will divide your annual premium by twelve to come up with an estimated monthly amount for you to pay into your impound account. Since a lender is allowed to keep two months of reserves in your account, you will have to deposit two months into the impound account to start it up.
• Property Tax Impounds
  How much you will have to deposit towards taxes to start up your impound account varies according to when you close your real estate transaction. For example, you may close in November and property taxes are due in December. Your deposit would be higher than for someone closing in May.
• Mortgage Insurance Impounds
  When required, most lenders allow this to simply be paid monthly. However, you may be required to put two months worth of mortgage insurance as an initial deposit into your impound account.