Property taxes/escrow acct/income tax question

[lessel]

We refinanced in August and fully funded an escrow account so that property taxes due end of September could be paid out of that account. In early December I got a notice from our county that they had not been paid. I'm pissed at myself for not noticing this in the escrow account, but the dashboard that I see when I look online said it was 'next due in Sept 2022' and I didn't click to look on the escrow balance or I would have known something was amiss. (Our mortgage servicer was the same from old loan to current loan.) After calls and emails to our mortgage servicer for the current loan, I was told on 12/29 that the check had been cut from the escrow account and a separate check had been cut from their account for the interest. (I made damn sure they knew I wasn't paying that on their behalf.)

This morning I checked the county's site and it's still showing as not paid and the interest amount due is now larger. I called the mortgage servicer again today and nope, no check has been cut and they're planning to pay it "this month." 

So now it's past the 1/1/2022 deadline where the county will put a tax lien on my house. And I am FULL OF RAGE. They say they have a 'good through date' of the end of the month. But the letter in my hand says otherwise. I'm giving them until Friday to fix this before I pay it in-person at the county tax office. 

While I sort out this issue, the secondary issue that comes to mind now because of this mess, is that I paid zero property taxes in 2021. Is there any way I can claim that on my income taxes still if I sort this out soon... or am I SOL for that? If the amount matters, the taxes are $6,900. 

[HitchedIn2006]

Can you reach out to your broker about this??

[Susie]

I would expect you're probably SOL as far as deducting 2021 property taxes, assuming you still do post SALT-cap, if you don't have a 2021-dated paid receipt.  You will have double in 2022, but cold comfort, I know.  

This sounds super frustrating, but I would not expect a broker to be helpful.  IME, once the loan closes, the broker is out and you have to deal with the servicer.  We just went through a whole recast/PMI removal process 6 months after we purchased, and our broker was like, let me know how that goes because I know nothing about the servicing side.

[lessel]

I might try emailing my broker but I agree there’s probably little she could do.

Jan 10, 2022 14:17:17 GMT -5 Susie said:

I would expect you're probably SOL as far as deducting 2021 property taxes, assuming you still do post SALT-cap, if you don't have a 2021-dated paid receipt.  You will have double in 2022, but cold comfort, I know.  

Wouldn’t I hit the SALT limit though if it’s 10K? We’d be talking about 6,900 for 2021 and that plus a bit I imagine for 2022. Or would the fact it’s over two years factor in.

I’m pretty dumb about this stuff because my taxes are usually super straightforward.

[awkwardpenguin]

Jan 10, 2022 16:06:37 GMT -5 lessel said:

I might try emailing my broker but I agree there’s probably little she could do.

Jan 10, 2022 14:17:17 GMT -5 Susie said:

I would expect you're probably SOL as far as deducting 2021 property taxes, assuming you still do post SALT-cap, if you don't have a 2021-dated paid receipt.  You will have double in 2022, but cold comfort, I know.  

Wouldn’t I hit the SALT limit though if it’s 10K? We’d be talking about 6,900 for 2021 and that plus a bit I imagine for 2022. Or would the fact it’s over two years factor in.

I’m pretty dumb about this stuff because my taxes are usually super straightforward.

Depends if you live in an income tax state.  State and Local Taxes cap affects state income tax + property taxes + other state and local taxes (like sales tax).  Our state income taxes are over $10k on their own, so we don't deduct any property tax.  Also, the standard deduction for 2021 is $25,100 per couple for MFJ, so you may not itemize your taxes at all.

[lessel]

Jan 10, 2022 17:08:27 GMT -5 awkwardpenguin said:

Jan 10, 2022 16:06:37 GMT -5 lessel said:

I might try emailing my broker but I agree there’s probably little she could do.

Wouldn’t I hit the SALT limit though if it’s 10K? We’d be talking about 6,900 for 2021 and that plus a bit I imagine for 2022. Or would the fact it’s over two years factor in.

I’m pretty dumb about this stuff because my taxes are usually super straightforward.

Depends if you live in an income tax state.  State and Local Taxes cap affects state income tax + property taxes + other state and local taxes (like sales tax).  Our state income taxes are over $10k on their own, so we don't deduct any property tax.  Also, the standard deduction for 2021 is $25,100 per couple for MFJ, so you may not itemize your taxes at all.

I guess SALT limit might have hit us last year and I didn’t notice. We itemized last year (24,800 in deductions). Looks like we had 8500 in state income taxes. But maybe standard deduction will make the most sense this year.

ETA: nope. Maybe we did standard in 2020. I thought it was 21k for the standard last year.

[lessel]

OMG y'all. Now I'm just venting at this point. The mortgage servicer's "Research and Resolution Department" emailed me this morning that they have "not received any previous request regarding this issue" and that their records indicate our taxes are next due in September 2022.

Holy shit the flaming email I just sent them with screenshots of my FOUR emails and the dates, times, and lengths of my FOUR phone calls.

I also emailed everything to my broker fwiw with a pleading cry of help to elevate this to whoever possible.

Hot damn I am pissed.

[k3am]

lessel, I learned with our old mortgage servicer that... run from escrows if you can. But also, every time you call them, keep a record of the date/time (which you already have), name of the customer service rep, and what you talked about. They were constantly telling me the same thing. I have a whole thread about it somewhere here and it was so stressful when it didn't need to be.

(I hope it's not Shellpoint, by the way. They were the worst and I still hate them.)

[lessel]

k3am, Not that company. The company is Dovenmuehle. What's annoying is they have been our servicer since 2019 with our original lender and a refi on this house (same lender). But our recent refi switched lenders, still the same servicer... and this massive screw up.

I did want to go no escrow, but wasn't able to negotiate that away. I was focused on getting to a 20y mortgage at the lowest rate.

[lessel]

Property taxes are paid! Hallelujah! I emailed the loan officer, who turns out is no longer with the company. But my new buddy Matt intercepted it and elevated it to the right folks who took care of it yesterday.

TBD on how this does or doesn’t mess up our tax return. But at least the stress of a tax lien on my house is gone.