How to understand your mortgage statement

If you’ve ever attempted to read one, understanding mortgage statements may seem like an incredibly complicated endeavor. Even if your situation is relatively simple, parts of your mortgage payment could go toward up to five different things.

To help make sense of it all, we’ll run through a mortgage statement example, but let’s start with the basics.

What is a mortgage statement?

A mortgage statement is a monthly summary of your loan. It typically provides a complete breakdown of how your payment is applied and your mortgage balance.

The mortgage payment itself consists of principal and interest. If you have an escrow account, your statement will include the amounts paid for homeowners insurance and property taxes, as well as your escrow balance.

You also can see the balance and payment history for your loan. This provides a regular update on the status of your home loan. It helps you track payments, understand your balance, and verify the accuracy of your home loan info.

Breaking down your mortgage statement

You’ve seen what a statement looks like, but let’s break these things down into their component parts. While the order of information we use will follow that of a Rocket Mortgage^® statement, a statement from your mortgage servicer will be similar and contain the same information.

• Loan information: Topline information – your loan number, the address of the property, the statement date, the amount owed, and the due date – is shown here. This section also includes a note on the amount of a late fee and the date after which you would owe one.
• Important messages: If there’s anything upcoming that you should know regarding your loan, it’ll be shown here. If space is short on the first page, other messages may be shown on the second.
• Loan information: This contains information on the original loan amount, your interest rate, and your balance for both principal and escrow for taxes and insurance.
• Payment history: This will give you how much has been paid toward your balance, escrow, advances paid on your behalf, and fees. These numbers are shown both for your last payment and as a year-to-date total. More loan activity may be shown on subsequent pages of the statement.
• Next payment breakdown: This shows not only the current amount due, but how the next payment will be applied to principal, interest, and the components of escrow. This also includes fees you may owe.

How to make sure your statement is accurate

Thoroughly review your mortgage statement to make sure it’s correct. You shouldn’t see anything you don’t expect. If you do, contact your servicer with any questions. Pay particular attention to the following:

• Loan balance
• Interest rate
• Escrow payments
• Late fees
• Delinquency notices

Understanding the mortgage billing cycle

Within the mortgage billing cycle, there are several key dates to remember:

• First of the month: This is the due date for the payment of your last monthly statement. Your due date may be different if you’re on biweekly payments, but you’ll still receive a monthly statement.
• 16^th of the month: This may vary by servicer, but this is the end of Rocket Mortgage’s grace period for monthly payments. It may differ if there is a federal holiday or Sunday in there, but this will be reflected in your statement.
• 15^th – 20^th of the month: if you’ve opted for paper statements, they’ll be mailed during this period. Electronic statements are released on the web as soon as they are available through your Rocket Account.¹

If you just closed on a home, whether your first or 15^th, congratulations! That’s a huge accomplishment! If you’re waiting on that first mortgage payment, you’ll get your statement about 2 weeks before it’s due.

How to make a payment

You have several options available to make your mortgage payment. While this section focuses on Rocket Mortgage clients, you can contact your servicer about its offerings.

• Paying online: You can do single payments or set up auto pay online through our Payment Center.
• Paying on the app: You can manage your mortgage on the go with our mobile app, available on the Apple App Store² and Google Play. ³
• Pay by phone: You can pay by phone 24/7 at (800) 646-2133
• Pay by mail: Finally, you can send a check together with your payment coupon. Make the check payable to Rocket Mortgage, LLC. Include the loan number in the memo line. You can send to the following address:

Rocket Mortgage, LLC

P.O. Box 6577

Carol Stream, IL 60197-6577

You can always specify that extra funds beyond the amount due be applied to principal or escrow. Fill out your payment coupon or follow the prompts when paying online or by phone.

FAQ

Let’s look at a few other things that may come up when thinking about your mortgage statement.

How do you get your mortgage statement online?

If you’re a Rocket Mortgage client, you can pay your statement online by signing in to your Rocket Account. If this is your first time, you may be taken to a settings page. After you’ve verified these, click “View my mortgage” under the “Loans you’re paying on” section.

From here, navigate to the Mortgage tab under My Rocket. One of the options you’ll see is a Documents section from which you can access your statements.

Who will send you a mortgage statement?

Your mortgage servicer is responsible for sending your monthly mortgage statement. This may or may not be the same company that originated your mortgage.

How often will you get a mortgage statement?

You typically get a mortgage statement monthly.

The bottom line: Understanding your statement helps with mortgage management     

Mortgage statements don’t just show the total for your monthly house payment. They break down the details and status of your loan. Keeping track of your statements helps ensure accuracy and allows you to monitor trends over time in costs for homeowners insurance and property taxes.

To check your statements online, sign into your Rocket Account and find Documents under the Mortgage tab.

¹ Rocket Account is your account created in connection with Rocket Mortgage, Rocket Loans, Rocket Money or Rocket Homes Real Estate LLC. Rocket Mortgage, Rocket Loans, Rocket Money and Rocket Homes Real Estate LLC are separate operating subsidiaries of Rocket Companies Inc. Each company is a separate legal entity operated and managed through its own management and governance structure as required by its state of incorporation and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

² Apple, the Apple logo, and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.