Our client had an unusually low payment made to his county for real estate taxes on his 1098, so I asked him about it. He had not looked at, noticed, or even had a thought about the real estate taxes he'd paid through escrow as he had only owned his first home for just over one year, but since I look at documents like that frequently at work, I asked. I explained that his real estate taxes were unusually low so he made a few calls to his mortgage lender and checked with his county of record.
After an extended amount of time on hold with his mortgage lender, he learned that they had attempted to mail him a refund due to his real estate tax exempt status with the county and overpayment to escrow. The check had been returned as "undeliverable" even though it had been sent to the proper home address. The lender had not attempted to re-deliver the $1300.00. They had considered their one attempt sufficient, but since my client called, they re-opened the issue and would attempt to re-deliver to the same (correct) address. He also learned that his mortgage payment would be reduced by about $100.00 per month to reflect his correct escrow payment.
This client came into our tax office, received excellent service, a correct tax return and a $1300.00 "bonus!"
No on-line, self-filed tax return service would have found that. Thank you Liberty Tax Service!!
