I applied and was approved for a cash-out mortgage refinancing. The loan amount was for $260,000, which I expected to be enough to pay off the balance on my existing first mortgage, a home equity line of credit, a credit card balance and the loan’s closing costs. The lender provided me with a good faith estimate for estimated settlement charges of $3,617. On the day of closing, the closing attorney’s office called to tell me that I would need to bring a check to the closing for $5,029. After making some calls, I learned from an administrator in the closing attorney’s office that my existing first mortgage had a prepayment penalty.

I’m not with you on this one. A good faith estimate, or GFE, isn’t designed to show you the prepayment penalties on the existing loan; rather, it discloses any prepayment penalties on the new loan. It was your responsibility to know whether the existing mortgage had a prepayment penalty. The closing costs on a GFE are just estimates and are represented as such. Allocating loan proceeds with GFEs is never a good idea. It’s the HUD-1 Settlement Statement, not the GFE, that shows the actual settlement costs of the loan transaction. Under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, or RESPA, you had the right to request the HUD-1 or the HUD-1A one day before settlement. Here’s what the HUD Web site says about that statement:

click here for article

search for : cash-out mortgage refinancing, home equity line of credit, credit card balance, good faith estimate, GFE