I also have been knocking heads with my lender on the HELOC question. The instructions on the back of the CY2020 Form 1098 clearly state "Box2: Shows the outstanding principal on the mortgage as of January 1, 2020. If the mortgage originated in 2020, shows the mortgage principal as of the date of origination. If the recipient/lender acquired the loan in 2020, shows the mortgage principal as of the date of acquisition." Box 3 states "Shows the date of mortgage origination." and Box 11 states "If the recipient/lender acquired the mortgage in 2020, shows the date of acquisition." Now I'm not a CPA or tax professional but the two words "originated" and "acquired" should spell this out for the entity issuing the Form 1098.
In my case, the HELOC account was opened/originated in early 2016, so that's the date in Box 3 (Mortgage Origination Date) - no argument here. I wrote the HELOC check in April 2020, thus acquiring the funds during 2020. As of January 1, 2020, there were no outstanding fund taken against the HELOC, BUT the IRS verbiage allows the lender to instead post the amount acquired during CY2020 in Box 2 and then post that date in Box 11 (Mortgage Acquisition Date).
When you take a step back and look at this systematically, the logic is undeniable. My question now is how should I address this problem going forward, as I've already exhausted the path of talking with the lender, who has already issued a CORRECTED Form 1098 due to erroneous data posted to Box 10 and failing to place an X in Box 7? Should I now take it upon myself to enter the CORRECT value in Box 2 (the amount of the HELOC check written for home improvement) and the date of the check in Box 11?
