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Legal IssuesRESPA: GFE and HUD-1′s impact in 2010
On January 1, 2010, all residential real estate practitioners can expect to see a new Good Faith Estimate and a new HUD-1 Settlement Statement. What impact will these changes have on licensees?
At the PAR Business Meetings in June, I will be talking about the changes and how these changes might (or might not) affect your practices. The new GFE is designed to obligate lenders to provide concrete information to consumers about lender fees, within three days of the buyer submitting an application. The new GFE will also identify other charges that the buyer will have, some of which will be required by the lender, with a reasonable degree of certainty.
The GFE and the HUD-1 are now synchronized so that the buyer can compare the charges disclosed on the GFE directly with the charges on the HUD-1. One area where buyer’s agents will be able to help their clients is to ensure the title or settlement company has a copy of the GFE well before settlement so that the buyer can verify that the charges the lender disclosed are the same as what appears on the HUD.
This knowledge and awareness will not only help buyers’ awareness about the fees they are being charged BEFORE settlement, but it will also reduce the number of “at table” fee disputes.
RESPA and the new revisions have been in a state of flux since the final rule was issued November 2008 — there are no guarantees that the changes are done… Stay tuned!
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Brett Woodburn, Esq. is an attorney with Caldwell & Kearns and serves as general counsel to PAR. A substantial portion of his practice is dedicated to providing advice and counsel to real estate licensees and representing and defending real estate salespersons and brokers in civil lawsuits and licensing claims across the Commonwealth. He routinely counsels employers on employee relations issues as one of the voices of the PAR Legal Hotline. |
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