Homeowners to Receive Escrow Refunds : Real estate: Lenders will have to return at least $1.5 billion to borrowers under a new HUD rule.

WASHINGTON â€”  Lenders will refund at least $1.5 billion to homeowners in response to a Department of Housing and Urban Development rule that takes effect this week, HUD said Tuesday.

The rule, announced seven months ago, reduces the amount that lenders can require borrowers to keep in escrow accounts. Lenders establish the accounts to ensure that homeowners pay taxes, insurance and other loan-related charges on time.

HUD estimates that future home buyers will save about $477 million annually in closing costs because of the new rule. Some buyers will save about $250 each at closing, HUD said.

“By reducing the upfront cost of a mortgage, the Clinton Administration is making homeownership more accessible and putting cash in the hands of consumers,� HUD Secretary Henry G. Cisneros said.

Before the rule change, many lenders estimated the amount to be held in escrow using “single-item accounting.� That means they estimated how much the borrower would have to spend on each escrow item, such as insurance and taxes, during the year, then added the total of those costs.

Using single-item accounting results in too much money being held in escrow because insurance, taxes and other recurring expenses are paid out at different times of the year, HUD officials said. Companies that process homeowners’ mortgage payments have an incentive to hold too much in escrow because they keep the interest earned on the balances.

The new rule requires that an aggregate accounting method be used, which requires lenders to analyze each escrow account as a whole when determining if it holds sufficient funds. In most cases, this will reduce the required balance.

Lenders will be given up to three years to change their accounting methods on existing escrow accounts. They must analyze escrow accounts at least once a year, refunding any surplus of more than $50 to the borrower.