HUD Simplifies Good Faith Estimate

by Andrew Hahn on Dec.28, 2009, under The Loan Process

Here we go the Government and HUD Simplifies Good Faith Estimate so the people who are obtaining a new loan can more easily understand the fees and costs associated with refinancing or purchasing a home. Although I am a Mortgage Broker located in Commerce City Colorado and does Business in the state of Colorado this affects everyone who is obtaining mortgage financing.  What once was a 1 page document that the mortgage professional would use to explain the costs and the breakdown of the transaction the would actually show the borrower what his payment would be (Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance) and an estimate of what they would need to bring to closing (pretty nice to know) has now become a 3 page piece of paper that is given to the borrower. To sum this up the new 3 page form it takes a 29 page power point presentation to explain CLICK HERE TO SEE go down to RESPA  Plain English (you gotta love it)and you can download this 29 page presentation that explains the new easy to understand 3 page document that replaces the old 1 page document. This is the description of the form and its inputs. Now once you have gone through this you now need to go to the New RESPA rule FAQ’s (51 pages and i understand the updated version is 80 plus pages) to find answers to the many unanswered questions that helps define the meanings and clarifications on how to complete this form. Here is an example of one of the FAQ’s; 9. Q: The definition of ―Origination service does not explicitly include all of the services provided by mortgage brokers in the definition of ―Settlement services. Are all ―Settlement services considered ―Origination services?
A: No, all ―Settlement services are not considered ―Origination services. However, all ―Origination services are ―Settlement services. AND THIS is to help everyone more clearly understand the new good faith.  I have taken several classes on the required new forms so that I can be able to explain this new good faith estimate, Which I know a can do, the major difference is that with the old document I could very thoroughly go over this document and explain all the fees involved with your loan request in about 2 to 5 minutes depending on the questions you might have had. Unfortunately with the new 3 page form its going to take a bit longer and I feel still well not be as clear by the use of just this form.  It does not show anywhere on the form what your estimated total payment would be; it only shows you what your Principal, Interest and *Mortgage Insurance would be  *( if any) nowhere does it reflect what your Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance would be. Another equally if not confusing aspect of this form is, is that for purchasers it includes all the fees whether paid by seller or buyer and does not show who pays for what, giving the appearance that the borrower would need to bring all the costs to closing. Because of the confusion and unclear breakdown of the fees and the lack of a breakdown of who is to pay those fees, this new 3 page document has really created the need to create several new forms that can more adequately reflect what the estimated payment would be and to also show to the borrower what they could expect to bring to closing on a purchase. For those of you purchasing home both borrowers and Realtors make sure you talk with your mortgage professional to get a thorough explanation about the new Lending process. This is only a brief explanation on a few points about the NEW GFE there are also time lines that affect this form as well as what to do when there is a fundamental change to the loan request but also how changes to the GFE   in turn affects the Truth in Lending Document that has its own guidelines and disclosure time lines as well.

Please give me a call or an email to help further explain the new process

Andrew Hahn 303-331-8040 or ask your question via the comments section or Visit my Business website Capital Advantage LLC.

Welcome to the new world of mortgage finance

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