A mortgage Loan Estimate is just that — an estimate. Your actual loan costs might be higher or lower than the estimate, within certain legally-specified limits for some items, and without defined limits for others. Items with a 10% change limit include: Charges for recording services 3rd-party services on the list provided by the lender Items which might change without legally-defined tolerances: Prepaid Interest Property Insurance Premiums Escrow or Reserve Deposits Items with ZERO tolerance, that should not change: Transfer taxes Fees paid to the lender Fees paid to a mortgage broker, or to affiliates of the lender or the broker. Fees paid to any 3rd parties on the "CAN NOT SHOP" list provided on the Loan Estimate. Compare the Loan Estimate and the Closing Disclosure before loan consummation.

Lenders supply a Loan Estimate form for valid mortgage applications. This form documents these essential elements of the approved loan: Services borrowers CAN shop in relation to the loan Services borrowers CANNOT shop Loan terms Loan costs Project payments Cash and costs required to close the loan A loan summary to aid comparing this estimate to other estimates. Loan Estimate forms also provide details about loan assumption policies, appraisal, insurance, late-payment policies, and refinancing. The Estimate should also disclose whether the lender intends to service the loan directly. All Loan Estimates are not identical. Information that is NOT related to a specific application may be excluded. Careful reading and comparison is always a good practice.

Once you have supplied these 6 facts to a lender, the clock is started for them to return a Loan Application within 3 business days: Loan Amount Estimated Property Value Property Address Your Name(s) Your Social Security Number(s) Your Income Lenders are free to collect additional information based on their loan application processes, but are not free to change the 3 business day deadline. Once these 6 facts are accepted in an application, lenders are required to respond on time.

By law, a mortgage loan application is valid when these things are provided to the lender: Loan Amount applied for Estimated Property Value Property Address Borrower Name Borrower ID — preferably Social Security Number Borrow Income Supplying these establishes a legitimate loan application under the Federal TRID guidelines. While submitting these in written form is preferable, providing them in conversation — live, phone call, or video conference — is also valid. You should request a written record of the conversation, of course. Once supplied, these 6 facts start the clock for a lender. Under the TRID guidelines, financial institutions must return a Loan Estimate within 3 business days. (See other videos on Loan Estimate details here.)

Federal guidelines apply to most consumer loans — like mortgages — that are secured by property. Refinancing, vacant-land loans, construction-only loans, closed-end home-equity loans, and of course home mortgages are covered by these guidelines. Reverse mortgages and mobile-home mortgages are regulated separately, and the Federal TRID guidelines and disclosures do not apply in the same way. Guidelines are designed to apply to lenders who make such loans in the ordinary course of business; they do not apply to people or businesses that make 5 (or less than 5) qualifying loans in a given year.

Laws set under the TILA- RESPA Integrated Disclosure Act - TRID - specify the details that lenders MUST supply to customers making an application for a real estate loan. Since Oct 1, 2015 loan providers are required to return two disclosures - the Loan Estimate and the Closing Disclosure. The Loan Estimate is, as the title suggests, an estimate that covers the key costs, risks and features of the proposed loan. When the lender approves a loan, the Loan Estimate must be returned to the consumer in three business days. (See related Video-Genius video on how business days are defined.) The Closing Disclosure applies if the loan process moves forward. This form covers the key costs of the loan transaction. It must be provide to the borrower a minimum of 3 business days prior to the final loan consummation.