Monies paid *into* an escrow account are never deductible. That money is technically your money until the date is is used to pay any assessed property taxes.
Your lender "should" be sending you an escrow analysis statement every year on the anniversary of the loan. It shows the amount you paid into escrow over the prior year based on their *ESTIMATE* of what your taxes and insurance will be. It will also show the "ACTUAL" amounts they paid for each as well as the date it was paid.
Finally, it will show any adjustments if necessary to future payments into escrow based on their "ESTIMATE" of what your taxes and insurance will be for the next 12 months. They "project" that estimate based on what was actually paid during the previous 12 months.
It's up to you to check that escrow analysis statement each year when you receive it, and to question the lender or escrow agent if something is questionable or just doesn't look right. It's also up to you to confirm the escrow agent received any bills for those items that are supposed to be paid from escrow.
I know I get a property tax bill in the mail each year from the county property tax assessor. On that bill it states, "DO NOT PAY - COPY ONLY. ORIGINAL SENT TO YOUR ESCROW AGENT".
Now my property taxes are due by Nov 30th each year. I'll keep tabs on things online and if my escrow account hasn't shown a payment for those property taxes by Nov 15th, I will fax a copy of my bill to the escrow agent, call them to confirm it was received and ask them to send me an e-mail confirming they received it. That way, if they pay it late, I win the argument on who pays the late fees.
But generally, when I check online I've always seen the payment for my property taxes in the first week of November. I then log onto the county website to confirm they did "in fact" receive that payment.
