I'm about to close (this week, fingers crossed) on a condo purchase that went into contract in January, so we used the new Good Faith Estimate (GFE) to shop lenders and will use the new, corresponding HUD-1 to close. So far, I'm a fan of the new forms; the GFE did a pretty good job standardizing stuff. But we just hit one of the obstacles it's intended to prevent -- unexpected closing costs. The... [more]
I'm about to close (this week, fingers crossed) on a condo purchase that went into contract in January, so we used the new Good Faith Estimate (GFE) to shop lenders and will use the new, corresponding HUD-1 to close.
So far, I'm a fan of the new forms; the GFE did a pretty good job standardizing stuff. But we just hit one of the obstacles it's intended to prevent -- unexpected closing costs. The origination charge our bank quoted in line #1, block A, on the GFE is $425.
The GFE also quoted $4,500 in line 4, "title services and lender's title insurance," but we used our own title firm (one my lawyer picked), so we assumed up until now that we were on our own with those costs and the GFE quote didn't apply. Then we got the HUD-1, and the bank's lawyer wants a $795 fee, which he listed on line 1102 as a title closing fee.
It looks like this is a really murky area of the new RESPA rules -- how the bank's lawyer fee should be disclosed. HUD guidance isn't clear whether it has to be in the GFE on line 1, as part of the bank's origination charge, or if it can be considered a title services fee. So I'm curious: For others who have closed this year, with the new GFE/HUD-1, where did your mortgage lender put it?
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