Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-529_1b7d.pdf
Page Number: 7

Cite as:  602 U. S. ____ (2024) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

twice  a  year,  the  borrower  can  instead  make  small 
payments throughout the year.  And the arrangement also
assists the bank by ensuring that the borrower’s insurance
and  tax  bills  are  timely  paid,  thus  protecting  the  loan
collateral (the home) against tax foreclosure or uninsured 
damage.

In light of those benefits to both sides, the vast majority
of  home  mortgages  come  with  escrow  accounts.    Indeed, 
many  federal  agencies  and  programs  require  them.    The 
Federal  Housing  Administration  and  the  Department  of
Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service, for example, mandate 
escrow  accounts  for  mortgages  that  they  administer  or 
insure. 

In the 1970s, Congress found that some national banks 
were  engaging  in  “certain  abusive  practices”  and  that 
“significant reforms” were necessary to protect borrowers. 
12  U. S. C.  §2601(a).   To  that  end,  Congress  passed  and 
President  Ford  signed  the  Real  Estate  Settlement 
Procedures  Act  of  1974,  or  RESPA.    Among  other  things,
RESPA extensively regulates national banks’ operation of 
escrow  accounts.    RESPA  first  sets  out  the  general  terms
for  national  banks  that  operate  escrow  accounts.    For 
example,  RESPA  requires  national  banks  to  “promptly
retur[n] to the borrower” any funds left over after the loan
is  paid,  §2605(g),  and  to  provide  borrowers  with 
notifications  and  account  statements,  §§2609(b),  (c).
RESPA also contains a specific safeguard for borrowers:  It 
caps the amount that national banks can require borrowers 
to deposit into escrow accounts.  §2609(a).  But as relevant 
to  this  case,  RESPA  (unlike  New  York  law,  as  we  will 
discuss) does not mandate that national banks pay interest 
to borrowers on the balances of their escrow accounts.1 
—————— 

1 Another  federal  law,  the  Truth  in  Lending  Act,  also  addresses 
national  banks’  operation  of  mortgage-escrow  accounts.    The  Truth  in 
Lending  Act  requires  national  banks  to  operate  escrow  accounts  for
certain  mortgages.    82  Stat.  146,  15  U. S. C.  §1639d.    For  those