What is an escrow balance?
I thought I had paid off my mortgage. It says principal balance - $0.00 and escrow balance is $.85
I still owe .85$?
escrow is where they hold your property taxes and homeowners insurance.
they go up every year....they dont stay fixed. An escrow account is where they hold your insurance/property tax funds, separate from your mortgage payment. If it says escrow balance of $0.85, they actually owe you $0.85! It means they owe you $.85.
Every company does things a little differently, but I don't know of any escrow holder that would spot you the money for taxes or insurance and expect you to pay back later. So it would not make sence for you to owe them money. They probably do owe you that money. They will probably send you a check for $.85 or make a payment of $.85 to taxes or insurance. Each comapny runs things a little differently, but odds are, they owe you the money. An escrow is where cash or other securities are held by a third party until the conditions of a contract are met. You have $0.85 spare, congratulations.