Tag Archives: Mortgage Fees

Whacked Out Wednesday – Estimate of Fee’s

#WhackedOutWednesday – Estimate of Fee’s need to be made in “Good faith”! Hence why it was called a GFE in the past.  The new name is Loan Estimate, the concepts of the fee’s are the same.  The rules of what can change, what can NOT change and what fee’s have a 10% tolerance have been updated, but the consensus is the same.  Nothing changed in how you should be putting together your estimates.  Know this stuff!

Below I will place the current chart that breaks down each section, however there are somethings worth noting.  A notable mention is the transfer taxes, go high on purpose.  You don’t need to over estimate 1000’s of dollars, but to add a few hundred just in case is ok.  Another notable is the SSPL, or Settlement Service Providers List, and how these fee’s labeled with a companies name in the beginning work.  Know how using a different company can be loop hole to fee variances.  Know how to calculate per diem interest and how to set up an impound account.  While certain things can change, there’s a best practice to be more accurate than ever before now.

Below is the current FEE chart, that breaks down the various “areas” on the LE as to what can change, what can NOT change and what has a 10% tolerance.  Know this, and get good at making estimates.  Yes, you want to under promise and over deliver, but “Fee’s” in general need to be more accurate in the act of Loan Origination than ever before.  The CFPB doesn’t want you way over disclosing and then making it a habit to reduce fee’s later on.  They want you to make an estimate “In Good Faith”

#SellWell

FeeTolerance

Thursday’s Trick – LE Fee’s and Tolerance trick

Great time to remind everyone what has a 10% tolerance, what has zero tolerance and what has no tolerance.  Fee’s are important, very important!  And I am fan of over-disclosure.  I encourage you to make sure you are over estimating fee’s, especially the one’s that “change” the most.  No offense to title and escrow companies, but I’m calling you all out.  lol.  Across the Nation I do loans for Broker’s that send them to my awesome underwriting team to be completed.  And the biggest thing I see in fee variance is the title/escrow fees changing from what is said (in writing) to be charged for those services on a mortgage loan.

Trust me I get it.  Loan amounts can change, and yeah I realize the cost of the title/escrow fee’s are ultimately associated with that.  However, I’m not talking about 5 dollar differences.  I’m talking about a couple hundred or in some cases over 1k difference in fee’s on mortgage loans that are disclosed upfront, and then in the end the costs go up.

Here’s a guide today on a way to combat that problem, as sometimes a LO may not know “all the fee’s” that particular company is going to charge on that “specific file” until later in the transaction.  Well, 1st off, as an LO, you should be over disclosing those fee’s as a whole.  If you know in your area, that what is usual and customary on a loan (say 200k), that should be rounded up on your LE and SSPL.  For those Broker’s/Lenders thinking of expanding in ownership/affiliation with a title company, you should know that those title fee’s then become a ZERO tolerance item.  (actually spells out = not a good business idea)!  For those of you that place the exact company on the SSPL and LE to match (in section C) and the borrower “chooses” them, then those fees have a 10% tolerance.  So what you disclose in the beginning can vary only 10% all the way to the end.  Whereas, if the specific company said on the LE & SSPL for title fee’s is actually NOT chosen by the borrower…Well those new fee’s from a different title/escrow company can be completely different than what was disclosed.  With no reproccussion (tolerance cure) by the LO.  #ThursdaysTrick

Check out the video and the chart below.  I didn’t make it, I just use things like this as “bible” to getting transactions done.  🙂  #knowledgeispower #disclosecorrectly #SellWell

Here’s the cheat sheet that spells it all out.  One fee can be in either of the 3 categories, depends on your business and how you disclose.  (And what the “borrower” chooses) 🙂

FeeTolerance

As always, Share, Interact, Like, Repeat! #SellWell

-The Mortgage JUICEman (Join Us In Creating Excitement)