Is this a common tactic?

i dont know if this story helps but in a rental deal, just as i was about to sign, the broker told me there is an additional charge for utilities.
i asked why he didnt tell me before, and he made some dumb excuse. so i said forget it, im not signing.
he said "your walking away over this? you've already spent money on the credit check and blah blah"
i said, "no, i'm walking away because this is criminal behaviour and you know it."
he says "wait, let me make a phone call" the proverbial phone call.
in the end he waved the utility charge.
but i asked around, and some people have gotten this before, but one friend in another building had a similar experience. she contacted the NY attorney general and after a couple of months, the charges were returned.

sorry for the long and possibly unrelated story, but let the person know you think its wrong and if they continue to go along with it, tell them to put it in writing and if they dont, tell them you are putting that in writing and forward it on to the attorney general.
i know it may be after the fact, but at least the complaint will be filed, and who knows, you might be able to ream someone who is really trying to take advantage of your situation.
good luck!

If you want to use a broker, try either Grace Bozick or Dan Levitan at Manhattan Mortgage. There were no surprises. One caveat. Many of the big banks no longer use brokers, so you'll have to shop those on your own.

I also had a good experience with Manhattan Mortgage -- Eric Stam was my contact. All dealings were up-front and above-board, and he was very patient in taking me through all of the fees line by line for complete transparency.

Because we were buying in a small building that needed a Fannie Mae waiver and wasn't on any lender's current pre-approved lists, we were going to use a broker even if cost more, but we found that we got a better rate with lower closing costs than any of the banks were offering.

Having seen the amount of work the broker needed to do to get the building approved, he earned every last cent he made from our loan!