Ok, this was a take off of the 1970′s infamous billboard but I’m not using this as a way to discuss today’s slowed housing market. No, it’s actually a reminder to sellers within Seattle to not forget that when you have escrow companies closing out your lienable utilities you still need to make a phone call to the city to ask for any refund that may be owed to you.
Escrow firms will usually do a holdback of funds at closing (if it’s in your contract) to pay off lienable (municipality owned) utilities and if there is an overage they will refund the difference, but if you’ve already paid a bill and there is crossover, you may have more funds owed to you. Now, if you are staying in the same city it may just transfer to your new account, but if you’ve moved out of the city to a new one then you may need to call to get your refund – like I did.
I like to think of these refunds as a bonus dinner out. My recent refund was over $200 so it was worth the call. Don’t leave your funds floating out there!
