A voluntary agreement between the FI and borrower does not necessarily exclude it from RESPA escrow requirements.
From 1024.17.
Escrow account means any account that a servicer establishes or controls on behalf of a borrower to pay taxes, insurance premiums (including flood insurance), or other charges with respect to a federally related mortgage loan, including charges that the borrower and servicer have voluntarily agreed that the servicer should collect and pay. The definition encompasses any account established for this purpose, including a “trust accountâ€, “reserve accountâ€, “impound accountâ€, or other term in different localities. An “escrow account†includes any arrangement where the servicer adds a portion of the borrower's payments to principal and subsequently deducts from principal the disbursements for escrow account items. For purposes of this section, the term “escrow account†excludes any account that is under the borrower's total control.
An account established by the FI to pay taxes, insurance, etc. from for the benefit of the borrower would not be under the total control of the borrower unless the borrower can deposit to, withdraw from or close it at the borrower's discretion without consent of the FI.
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The opinions expressed are mine and they are not to be taken as legal advice.