When you refinance, your existing lender will send you a check for any remaining escrow funds within 45 days. This could be a considerable amount, since servicers usually hold about 12 months of homeowners insurance and 6 months of property taxes in the escrow account.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt is not possible for your existing lender to wire or otherwise transfer escrow funds to the new refinance lender or servicer. That’s why many people choose to take a higher refinance loan amount to cover that expense.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis strategy, though, increases the amount of interest paid over the life of the new loan. Many borrowers choose to pay the escrow setup costs upfront, knowing they will receive a check from their existing lender for approximately the same amount within 45 days. It may be worth taking a short-term loan or taking money out of savings to avoid incurring a larger loan for a temporary expense. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnother strategy is to cover escrow set up with a higher loan amount, then make a principal payment when you receive the refund from your existing lender. However, this won’t lower the monthly payments on your new loan.