Setting up mortgage payments

[Mike or Penny Novack]

prl wrote:

> GnuCash's model of a mortgage is far to simpleminded for my needs. I 
> think that part of the problem lies with the huge variety of mortgage 
> products available to the GnuCash userbase. For example, I have no 
> idea what a "mortgage escrow" is. I don't even know whether it's a 
> familiar concept with a different name or a concept that simply 
> doesn't exist in residential mortgages in Australia.

Mortgage escrow ---- (which you might not have)    An account into which 
payments are collected in order to have enough to pay for taxes, etc. 
which if unpaid would result in liens against the property prior to 
those of the mortgage holder. Taxes, etc. are paid out of this account 
by the holder of the mortgage ensuring that they know these have been 
paid. Often also includes the premiums of required insurance against 
loss of the property. While the mortgage holder processes these payments 
the account is technically still the property of the property owner. 
Usually an annual accounting at which time the amount of monthly (or 
bi-weekly) escrow amount is adjusted up or down depending on the 
remaining balance (or shortfall) and estimated payment needs for the 
coming year.

Michael