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Who are closing costs paid to?

Updated: 9/22/2023
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11y ago

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"Closings costs" is a blanket term to cover all the one-time expenses of taking out a mortgage or home equity line/loan.

These include "origination fees" which are paid to your lender and/or your mortgage broker (your loan officer may work directly for the lender or may be an independent broker separate from the lender). In the past, these would generally be simply "points", but under current regulations, points and all other origination fees payable directly to the lender or broker for setting up and granting the loan (not third party fees) are lumped into this category (commitment fees, funding fees, etc). Your lender is required to disclose origination fees to you on a "good faith estimate." Origination fees are not permitted to be higher at closing that what they are on the GFE.

Closing costs also include many fees which might be collected by your lender at closing, but are actually third party feespaid to someone else, including:

Flood certification fee (to determine if house is in a flood zone)

Tax Service fee (paid to a company to manage your tax payments)

Appraisal

credit report

Settlement fee to title company or attorney

Title insurance premium

Recording costs

Inspections

Survey

Courier Fees

One time HOA or HOA management fees

Transfer taxes

Federal and state laws and regulations governing closings require that these fees be charged in "actual" amounts, meaning your lender cannot charge you $600 for an appraisal but then only pay the appraiser $500.

Of course, your lender is required to disclose these items to you on the GFE, but because the lender/broker does not actually control these costs, actual fees for third party costs at closing may be different than what is disclosed on the GFE. For many of these types of third party fees, your GFE may (by regulations) be off by as much as 10% (in total, not item by item). For others (generally any cost where the service provider is selected by the borrower rather than the lender -- such as inspections and sometimes the title company), the lender is not responsible for accurate GFE numbers at all.

Closing costs are distinguished from "prepaid" items which are also paid at closing but represent ongoing costs of debt or home ownership (e.g., homeowner's insurance, interest, taxes, HOA dues, funds needed to set up an escrow/impound account for taxes/insurance, and mortgage insurance). Virtually none on these is paid to the lender except for the interest. These funds may be held or collected by your lender but are then paid out to the HOA, tax office, insurance company, etc. Prepaids will be disclosed on the GFE as well, but fall into the category of costs that may change.

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Q: Who are closing costs paid to?
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When are the closing costs due?

Usually your closing costs are put in an escrow account and paid shortly after the close of sale.


What are closing costs?

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Does the seller to pay closing cost?

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What is the term for fees that must be paid to the lender before a check for purchase can be released?

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What is the term for fees that must be paid to the lender before a check for a purchase can be released?

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What closing costs can a seller legally pay for a buyer?

The underwriting requirements of a mortgage you may be taking to buy the property have restrictions that dictate the percentage and the type of closing costs that the seller can pay and still allow the borrower to qualify for the loan. These vary with all of the many mortgage programs that are available. == == Generally those closing costs that can be paid by the seller for the buyer are referred to as "non-recurring" closing costs. Call your local escrow company, and they can tell you what is appropriate for your area.


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What fees are included with closing costs?

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