Law Office of Kalife & da Fonseca
RESPA
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act was updated in 2008. As of January 1, 2010, there are now two very important features of the Act that have changed the world of home sales: 1) the opportunity for the homeowner to shop for their own service providers and 2) a modified Good Faith Estimate (GFE) with limitations on some fee increases between receiving a GFE and the closing.
Choose Your Own Attorney!
The new RESPA rule puts the choice of the attorney and other service providers on the the buyer of the home or property. Before the enactment of this rule, buyers would find a lender or mortgage broker to help finance their home. At that time the lender or mortgage broker would choose which attorney would conduct the closing. Then that attorney would work for the bank and take the buyer through the closing of the home sale and the mortgage that would accompany it.
As of January 1, 2010, the lender must provide the buyer with a list of attorneys and other service providers with an estimate of their fees. The buyer may choose a service provider on that list or choose their own. Don't pass up your right to choose your closing attorney. Call the Law Office of Kalife & da Fonseca. We would be honored to help you through the process of buying a home.
Good Faith Estimate (GFE)
The Good Faith Estimate is not new. Banks are required to give the buyer a list of costs and expenses related to the closing before the closing date. What is new are the tolerances for which the estimate can waver from the actual end cost. Some costs are not allowed to change at all. Others may fluctuate by up to 10%. The Federal Government has implemented this part of the Act to protect buyers from predatory lending practices.
The Law Office of Kalife & da Fonseca offers a full range of real estate legal services to buyers, sellers, and lenders. The services we offer include:
Our attorneys are members of the Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts.
