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Tracy Said:

How long do you have to pay Mortgage insurance on FHA loans?

We Answered:

you can check Ah Long

Misty Said:

How is mortgage hazard insurance calculated? Rate in Houston, TX?

We Answered:

Your mortgage hazard insurance is based on alot of different factors. Your zipcode, claims history, price per square foot, etc. Here is a piece of advice and that is don't take your mortgage companies quote they provide for you because they sometimes receive kickbacks from they insurance companies. If you want to see who is going to get competitive for your insurance then you should compare. If you just google auto insurance, tx you are likely to get lead generation companies who sell you request for info to potentially hundreds of agents. Try www.CompareMyInsuranceOnline.com and you can get actual quotes back. In Houston (where I grew up) there is a lot of things that can be excluded so comparing the rates and getting feedback is a must. Congrats on the new purchase and know that a friend of mine just saved 46% by comparing their rates in Katy, Tx.

Eric Said:

How do I find out if an incorrect (clerical error) medical diagnosis influenced my insurance or mortgage rates

We Answered:

The ONLY thing it could influence would be health insurance, disability insurance, and possibly mortgage insurance, NOT pmi.

You'll have to ask your agent, who helped you GET the insurance, after the incorrect diagnosis was made.

Miriam Said:

Why is your FICO score directly related to your mortgage insurance?

We Answered:

I'm guessing you meant the home insurance. It has been proven that people with lower credit scores have a higher rate of claims, which is what the insurance companies care about. Each company has developed an insurance score that they use which is similar to your credit score. These scores may look at different aspects of your credit. As far as I know there haven't been any studies as to why because the insurance companies don't care why. Many people have tried to disprove the findings (the University of Texas had a big study several years ago) but so far nobody has been able to.

Kathleen Said:

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) Rates went up?

We Answered:

As far as I am aware, I have never seen PMI increase. However, since PMI is insurance to provide a cushion for the bank in case of default and is based on the value of your home, it would be technically possible if your home value were to have a significant decrease, i.e. normally you are charged PMI if you paid less than 20% down so that the bank is only risking 80%. I seriously doubt that that is the case though. You say you "decoded" this information. I think what you are looking at is an increase to the escrow for taxes and insurance and the reserves or cushion the bank requires to be maintained for your escrow impound account.

In terms of your tax increase, you would normally receive a notice of the increase from your local taxing authority (the county, city or state that imposes your property taxes). In my jurisdiction (and all the neighboring jurisdictions) we are sent notices of a proposed increase to the assessment which would generate the increased tax bill a year ahead and have only a specific window of time to file an appeal. If you miss the time for appeal, you are stuck with the increase. Unfortunately it sounds like it is too late to appeal your increase--you need to be on top of notices and copies of your tax bills that are sent by your jurisdiction.

In the meantime though -- ask your bank specifically what the taxes were last year and the insurance while you are at it and then ask them what they are this year and then do the math. Unfortunately the bank not only needs to make up the difference in your escrow they also need to increase to make sure there is not another shortage next year. However, the bank also usually includes a cushion and I have sometimes found that the cushion is to high. I have successfully argued with several banks to lower the escrow amount on behalf of clients when the cushion has been to high. And in my case I actually cancelled my escrow account years ago because of their funny math. I prefer to pay my own bills and not give the bank the use of my money.

If you can manage setting aside the money to pay your own taxes and insurance and your bank will allow this, consider cancelling your escrow account. If you cannot do this, then you need to be more proactive with your property tax bills/assessment notices, etc. so you aren't taken by surprise.

I hope this information helps. Good Luck!