Yes, the annual escrow account statement required by RESPA should be sufficient, assuming that the contact information on the notice (such as a phone number, email address, or internet website) provides a means of accessing the required information about property tax payments.

The Illinois Mortgage Escrow Account Act requires lenders to provide an annual escrow notice and permits it to be combined with other notices, such as the RESPA annual escrow account statement. The notice must provide “a means of communication for the borrower to access” the date and amount of tax payments and an identification of the property “by telephone, facsimile, e-mail, Internet access, or other means of communication . . . .” Provided that a borrower could use the contact information in your RESPA account statements to access that escrow information, your RESPA annual escrow account statements should satisfy the Illinois law’s requirements.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Mortgage Escrow Account Act, 765 ILCS 910/15(c) (“[A] mortgage lender that provides notice at least annually to a borrower in the manner provided in subsection (b) of a means of communication for the borrower to access the information set forth in subsection (a) [notice of tax payments] by telephone, facsimile, e-mail, Internet access, or other means of communication, is deemed to be in compliance with subsection (a).”)