Reply #12: Have him check to see if they received his homeowner's

[Blue Diadem]

insurance information. If a bank doesn't receive the information from the homeowners insurance company normally the bank will send out a notice. Sometimes if the homeowner lets it lapse or if there are communication problems between the mortgage company and the insurance company, the bank/mortgage company can take out their own insurance and add that to the customer's payment. I have a relative that worked at a small local bank part-time during college. It was her job to make sure mortgage holders were insured and to contact them if the bank wasn't notified that they have a homeowner's insurance policy. Most were just oversights or miscommunication, but she told me there were a couple time when the bank had to get a policy and that they were pretty pricey. My husband also just told me that we've received a notice after we refinanced our house, from the bank when it was time for our home owner's policy to renew and they said they didn't get the new policy information. He called our insurance agent and she faxed another copy to the mortgage company.

The only other thing that comes to mind is that the bank pays his real estate taxes and homeowners insurance through an escrow account. But if this is the first time he's had an increase in 10 yrs, I doubt that's the reason for the increase and since the amount is so much, it seems too high for an insurance premium increase or for a real estate tax increase.

Your Dad should have received some explanation of why his payment increased. When we bought our first house, we had escrow payments for insurance and taxes and we always received notices of when there was going to be an increase.

My advise is to have your father call Chase and ask for an explanation.