Frequently Asked Mortgage Questions

A conditional approval is an informal assessment that tells you how much you may be eligible to borrow. It’s based on your finances and creditworthiness. It’s "informal" because it doesn’t require paperwork or documented information to prove your situation, like a pre-approval would. It’s useful especially for people who want to know whether they’re financially ready to buy a home, and how much they could potentially afford.

To learn more, see our home loan checklist.

For a quick and simple look at how much you could potentially afford to spend on a home, try our mortgage calculator. You may also want to consider a conditional approval. To learn more, check out our article about how much you need to buy a house.

Truly, that depends on your goals and the mortgage solution that best meets your needs. A great idea is to talk to a Mortgage Loan Officer to learn what solutions are available.

An escrow account is a separate account that you fund each month as part of your total monthly payment. The funds that are collected are used to make property tax and hazard insurance payments on your behalf. Additionally, premiums due for mortgage insurance and flood insurance will also be paid from the escrow account if applicable for your loan terms. For more information regarding escrow services, please call mortgage customer service at 1-800-422-2442.

Most of the time, escrow accounts are required if your down payment was less than 20%. But, even when it’s not required, there are benefits to having an escrow account. It helps you manage large expenses, like property taxes and insurance premiums, so you don’t have to save for them separately. You make one combined mortgage and escrow payment each month, and the lender deposits the monthly amount allocated to escrow payments into your escrow account for you. When the property tax and insurance bills are due, we pay them on your behalf.

We estimate how much your taxes and insurance will cost over the next 12 months, based on the information we have at loan closing. Please refer to your loan closing documents, taxing authority and insurance company. Based on state law, we then determine how much your starting balance and monthly escrow payments will be. On an annual basis, we reanalyze your escrow account based on updated tax and insurance information. This may result in an adjustment to the escrow portion of your payment for the coming year.

If you have enrolled in KeyBank online banking you can view your mortgage account transaction history to see the most recent amounts paid for your property taxes and insurance premiums. Keep in mind that these amounts reflect payments we've already made. If they don't match your most recent tax and insurance bills, it's because we haven’t paid those yet.

No. We usually get them from your local property tax office and insurance company. We'll let you know if we need you to send the bills to us.

Each year, we review your account to make sure the escrow portion of your total monthly payment is sufficient to pay the property taxes and insurance premiums, while also maintaining the minimum balance your escrow account must have. Changes to your property taxes and insurance premiums may cause your monthly payment to change. We’ll send you an escrow statement after each analysis letting you know the outcome of the review (some exceptions apply based on your account status).

If the funds in your escrow account are projected to be below your required minimum balance at the lowest point in the 12-month period, you have a shortage. This can happen if the taxes or insurance premiums for the previous 12 months were more than expected or if they're estimated to go up in the next 12 months. You have the option of paying the shortage by:

• Paying it in full. Send a check for the full amount of the shortage to the address below to be deposited in your escrow account. Make sure to include your loan number and write "escrow shortage" on the memo line.
  • KeyBank National Association
    Attn: Escrow Servicing
    4910 Tiedeman Rd.
    OH-MS-SER3
    Brooklyn, OH 44144
  • -OR-
• Pay it over 12 months. No action is required by you if you choose this option. The effective date of the new monthly payment amount is identified on the third page of the Annual Escrow Disclosure Statement and will be reflected on your monthly mortgage billing statement.

We'll send you an escrow statement after each analysis that provides details for your account.

If your escrow account is projected to have more than the minimum balance required at its lowest point in the 12-month period, you have an overage. This happens if the taxes or insurance premiums for the previous 12 months were less than expected or if they're estimated to go down in the next 12 months. In most cases, we’ll send you a refund check for that amount. If the account is delinquent, refunds of surpluses are held until the account becomes current.

PMI is insurance that protects the creditor in the event that you default on your loan repayment obligations. It is arranged by the lender and provided by private insurance companies. PMI is usually required when you have a conventional loan and make a down payment of less than 20 percent of the home’s purchase price. If you’re refinancing with a conventional loan and your equity is less than 20 percent of the value of your home, PMI is also usually required.

The payment for PMI is collected each month with your mortgage payment. The premium amount is shown in the Projected Payments section on page 1 of the Closing Disclosure that you received when you closed on your mortgage loan. For more information, call Mortgage Customer Service at 1-800-422-2442.

Your ability to remove PMI or MIP depends on a number of factors. To learn if and how you can cancel your PMI or Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP), contact mortgage customer service at 1-800-422-2442.

You may also mail a request to:
KeyBank
OH-01-MS-SER3
4910 Tiedeman Road
Brooklyn, OH 44144

Or Fax To:
216-370-9453

A person who acquires an ownership interest in a property with a KeyBank loan through certain transfers may be deemed a "successor in interest." These can include ownership interests transferred through a borrower’s death, divorce, separation or from a family member. A person’s status as a "successor in interest" may entitle them to receive certain information and documentation about the loan. Alternatively, the borrower may have to authorize you to act on their behalf or to receive information about the loan.

For questions related to these types of ownership transfers, please call us at 1-866-325-9653 Mon-Fri: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET.

For some clients, it can make sense to apply a large principal payment and then "reset" or "re-cast" their payment based on a new, lower principal balance to lower their required monthly payment. There is a $250.00 Processing Fee for this service, and it is not available on all accounts. To learn more, contact a Mortgage Loan Officer.

If your loan was transferred you will receive a letter from KeyBank along with your new servicing company. Please refer to the contact information on those letters and reach out to the new servicer with any questions about your loan.

For general information on common non-state-specific fees and costs that could be associated with servicing your residential mortgage, refer to our Common Costs & Fees for Residential Mortgages Chart. It's not a complete list of all fees and costs that could be assessed, and the frequency of the fees and costs will depend on factors including service frequency, payment status, and investor and legal requirements. For additional information, please call us at 1-800-422-2442.