GFE

Well this didn’t take long

Two months into the new RESPA rules and it is becoming clear to us at closingcostfax.com that the new Good Faith Estimate is being exploited by some originators. Closingcostfax.com has identified several areas that are becoming the stomping grounds of predatory lenders. First and most obvious is the Our Origination Charge on page 2 section one of the GFE. With no itemization on the GFE, unscrupulous originators are already beefing up their fees in this section. We have seen $5,000 to $6,000 charges, with box 1 clicked in section 2. That means this charge is all fees right into the lenders pocket. Borrowers must insist on a breakdown of this charge to have any fair chance of negotiating these fees. If any of these fees come in lower at closing all the lenders has to do is increase another fee and keep the adjusted origination charge the same, pocketing the difference as pure profit and the borrower would never know the other fees came in lower. The best way for borrowers to take advantage of the new GFE is to look at closingcostfax.com comparison page and compare the rate, and fees 1 through 6 side by side of various lenders. Pick the lowest rate with the lowest Adjusted Origination Charge (A). Then shop for your other services in section 4, 5 and 6. Using Closingcostfax.com method will allow you to control the most expensive transaction of your life.