<prompt> Human: This year my mortgage just went from 1100.00 a month to 1500.00. Ive called my bank, the tax collector and the property appraiser and in a nut shell everything looks correctly calculated.The previous owners had a homestead exemption which I am unable to claim for the first year in my home. The tax collector straight face told me that my taxes tripled.I just dont understand how its legal that the closing agent told me my monthly payment would be 1100.00 and now I cant afford my house.Is there anything I can do. How is this possible?  <response>: Your mortgage payment includes fixed deposits into an escrow account to cover property taxes so it will vary over time depending on the property assessment. Your new payment includes paying down the shortage of the escrow account for the current tax year, plus an increase in escrow deposits to cover next years estimated payments. Its entirely possible that your lender assumed youd be eligible for the exemption in Year 1 when they gave you the estimate, or your property value recently dramatically increased or a combination of the two which is not uncommon. Was your house recently renovated? 