servicerguide

Payment spikes

My mortgage payment went up $300. What do I do?

The short answer: don't panic — and don't pay it without checking. In the vast majority of cases the jump is escrow (taxes or insurance), not your loan rate. Get the annual escrow analysis statement, verify their math, and know your options: you can pay a shortage in a lump sum, spread it over at least 12 months, or both at once.

Step 1: Find out what actually changed

Your monthly payment has two big parts: principal and interest (the loan itself) and escrow (property taxes plus homeowners insurance, collected monthly). If you have a fixed-rate mortgage, the loan part cannot change. So a jump almost always means escrow moved.

The usual suspects: your county raised property taxes, your insurance premium went up at renewal, or your servicer ran its annual escrow analysis and found a shortage.

Step 2: Get the escrow analysis statement

Your servicer is required to send you an annual escrow account analysis. It shows what they paid out, what they project to pay, and how they recalculated your monthly payment. If you can't find it, call and ask for it — and here's how to read one line by line →

Step 3: Check their math against reality

  • Taxes: compare the servicer's number with your county tax bill or assessor's website.
  • Insurance: compare with your insurer's actual renewal premium — not an estimate.
  • The cushion: federal rules let the servicer keep up to two months' worth of escrow payments as a cushion. Some servicers pad this. Two months is the legal maximum.

If the numbers don't match your real bills, that's an escrow error — and servicers make them regularly.

Step 4: Know your payment options

If there is a genuine shortage, you generally have three choices: pay it as a lump sum, spread it over at least 12 months (a right federal rules give you — you can ask for a longer spread, like 24 months, and some servicers agree), or a mix. Nobody has to pay a shortage all at once just because the letter makes it look that way.

Don't just stop paying the higher amount If the new payment is correct and you keep paying the old one, you'll fall behind — and late fees and credit reporting follow. Verify first, then pay the right number, not the scary one.

Related guides

Informational only — not legal or financial advice.

Mortgage rules vary by loan type, servicer, and state. Check your own loan documents and official federal resources, or talk to a licensed professional, before acting.