Posted by MonicaFL on 4/5/10 9:26pm
Msg #330466

I am soooo glad I am a notary and a signing agent

I am in the process of streamlining my VA loan. Today I received some of the documents. I am using the same company that I went thru before. Get a load of this.

I received the Good Faith estimate. It was so way out in left field - the charges alone for the Title Company were Double what they were before. Then there was a $900.00 charge for filing and recording fees. Last year they were $156.00!!!! I told my L/o that this just didn't make any sense and don't tell me well, we will give you a refund - I don't want a refund - I don't want to make my mortgage higher just to get a refund! He couldn't explain the $900.00.

There was also a Notice to Loan Applicant which had in big bold RED letters MAILED and the date below it was 3-26-10. It was actually mailed on March 30th and my lock is supposed to be good until April 6th!!!!!!!!

The big kicker is this though - the Amortization Schedule - the rate for the first three years was 3.75 then it went DOWN to 2.75 then it went DOWN again to 2.35! I called the L/O I have been working with and he was absolutely shocked. I told him flat out that by giving me documents that were totally out of line - I considered it fraud because if I said I would go along with it and then get the REAL papers and it was not as expressed - then I consider that fraud - it wouldn't just be a "mistake" - a good faith estimate, in my opinion, should be at least in the ball park and these figures were way outside left field. He totally agreed with me and told me not to sign anything - (as if I would) that he was going to look into this and see what they were actually doing. I told him that in my opinion, the left hand doesn't know what the right had is doing.

Just glad that I do what I do and understand these documents!

Reply by SReis on 4/6/10 6:49am
Msg #330482

Check out the new RESPA rules it protects against this

The Final figures are req to be within a certain amount of the GFE or the lender is req to re-disclosure the GFE & there is an add'l 3 day waiting prd, etc.

Reply by mwm143 on 4/6/10 9:08am
Msg #330491

Re: Check out the new RESPA rules it protects against this

I though this kind of nonsense was a thing of the past with the all the new government requirements.

Reply by MW/VA on 4/6/10 9:54am
Msg #330493

Re: Check out the new RESPA rules it protects against this

Nope--it's pretty much business as usual. About the only thing I'm seeing is FHA or VA refi's, all of which are brokered loans. It's like most people don't even pay attention to the costs, since they are rolled back into the loan. All they care about is the lower interest rate & payment they're getting.

Reply by Liz/OR on 4/6/10 10:42am
Msg #330497

I know exactly what you mean. I just went through a purchase at the end of Feb. and even though I got a couple lower quotes from companies I contacted through the internet, I decided to go with someone local whose feet I could put to the fire if anything crazy showed up on my docs the day of signing.

I have seen it time and time again where someone went through a company like Quicken and surprise surprise, costs were higher than originally quoted because they "can do that". And if you end up with that situation, you have already lost your $400 application fee or processing fee whatever they call it and well, your fees were only $1000 over the cost of that other local loan whose quote you got. So in the end, it isn't worth fighting and they just go ahead and sign with the bad taste in their mouth.

It turned out my LO really valued her reputation and at the signing table it was our surprise that fees were not over $1000 like we thought they'd be, they were to the tune of $200 and some change. That's what I'm talkin about.

Well Monica, I hope that in the end you get a square deal. I suppose we are all at the mercy of the system although I hope there are still some companies and some LO's out there who still care about your experience and their reputation, they should.