Finance Charges
Includes any charge payable directly or indirectly by the consumer and imposed directly or indirectly by the creditor incident to or required by the Lender except for fees that would be charged in a comparable cash transaction. Fees specifically exempt are appraisals, credit reports, doc prep, seller's points, hazard or flood insurance premiums, some title fees. When a fee is charged by a third party and increased to benefit the lender, the increased amount is called an upcharge. The portion retained by the lender should be considered a finance charge, even on exempt fees. The chart below may not be all inclusive.
Disclaimer: The list below was compiled using fee names that are commonly used by many lenders. If using this resource to determine whether a fee is a finance charge under Regulation Z, Section 1026.4, please note that the name of the fee by itself is not determinative as to whether the fee is considered a finance charge. An examination of the actual service being provided and charged for is the only method to definitely determine whether the fee is considered a finance charge under Regulation Z. In addition, secondary market investors may have additional overlays for certain fees that do not exactly track Regulation Z finance charge requirements.
Anyone reviewing the information below should consult with internal legal and compliance resources before making a final determination regarding the finance charge for any particular transaction.
Last Updated 02/21/2023 (recent changes bolded)
- 203K Permits
- 203K Consultant Fee
- 203K Inspection Fee (Lender Makes These Inspections)
- 203K Supplemental Document Fee
- 203K Supplemental Origination Fee
- Administrative Fee
- Amortization Schedule
- Application Fee (if only sometimes charged)
- Assignment Fee
- Assumption Fee
- Attorney Fee for Document Preparation or Closing (3rd Party)
- Bank Fee/Points
- Broker’s Fee
- Buydown/Subsidy Fee (Borrower’s Portion)
- Closing Coordination Fee
- Closing Fee
- Commitment Fee
- Compliance Audit
- Consultant Fee
- Conversion Fee
- Copy Fee
- Customer Identification Program (CIP) U.S Patriot Search
- Condo Certification (Lender Required)
- Courier Fee (All, Including Payoff from Title Co.)
- Credit Life Insurance (if required by Lender)
- Discount Fee
- Document Preparation (lender fee)
-
Document Preparation Fee (3rd Party Fee) (Some investors consider this to be a
prepaid finance charge. We will include it unless you request otherwise) - Document Review
- Download Fee
- Electronic Delivery
- Engineers Report (if required by Lender)
- eRecording (if paid to creditor or third party)
- Escrow Fees to Title Company
- Escrow Fees to Lender (203K)
- Escrow Waiver Fee to Lender
- Express Mail (All, Including Payoff from Title Co.)
- Final Inspection Fee (on construction or improvement loan)
- Flood - Life of Loan Monitoring (only)
- Flood Certification/Flood Hazard Determination w/ Life of Loan Monitoring (Combined)
- Fulfillment Fee
- Funding Fee
- Good Funds (To Lender)
- HOA Certification(Lender Required)
- Home Inspection (if required by Lender)
- Homeownership Counseling Fee
- Home Warranty (if required by Lender)
- HUD Review Fee
- Inspection/Photo Fee (Not to Appraiser)
- Inspection and Handling Fees for the staged
- disbursement of construction loan proceeds
- Insuring Fee
- Interest to End of Month (FHA, VA & Conv.)
- Lender’s Inspection Fee
- Loan Delivery Fee
- Loan Docs. (fees for preparing deeds, mortgages and similar documents if to 3rd party lawyer)
- Loan Level Pricing Adjustment(LLPA)
- Lock-In
- Lock Extension Fee
- Long Distance (To Lender)
- MCC Fee
- MERS File Registration Fee
- Mobile Signing Fee
- Modification Fee
- MIP
- Mortgage Insurance
- Origination Fee
- Per Diem Interest
- Plan Review Fee
- PMI (Initial Premium)
- PMI (Reserves)
- Post Closing Fee
- Pre-Plan Inspection Fee
- Processing Fee
- Rate Lock or Extension Fee
- Rebate Fee
- Refinance Fee
- Release Fee
- Review Fee/Attorney Review Fee
- Supplemental Discount
- Supplemental Origination
- Tax Research Fee (4506-T)
- Tax Research Fee (if tax service fee)
- Tax Service Fee (for life of loan)
- Tax Transcript Fee (4506-T)
- Title - Closing Protection Letter Fee
- Title - Commitment Fee
- Title Service Fee
- Transaction Fee
- Underwriting Fee
- USDA Guarantee Fee (Up-Front and Monthly)
- VA Funding Fee
- VA No-Bid Fee
- Verifications (VOE, VOD)
- Warehouse Fee
- Wire Fee
- Abstractor’s Certificate
- Application Fee - (if charged to all persons seeking credit, whether or not credit is actually extended.)
- Appraisal Fee (3rd party, or Lender)
- Appraisal Management Fee
- Appraisal Retype
- Appraisal Review (3rd party, or Lender)
- Attorney Retained by Borrower Fee for File Review
- Credit Report Fee
- Credit Alert (CAVIR)
- Document Stamps
- Engineer’s Report (if not required by Lender)
- Escrow Repairs (Rehab. amounts)
- Flood Certification (if part of survey fee)
- Flood Certification/Flood Hazard Determination (only)
- Flood Determination/Inspection (initial determination)
- Flood Insurance
- Gap Check Fee (title)
- Guarantee Fee
- HOA Dues
- HOA Transfer Fee
- Home Inspection
- Insurance Reimbursement
- Intangible Tax
- Interest Collected for Old Loan Pay-Off In Refinance
- MIP Refund
- Modification Filing Fee
- Mortgage Tax
- Notary Fees
- Points - Paid by Seller
- Recertification Fee (To Appraiser)
- Recording Fee/Filing Fee
- Redraw Fee for doc prep lawyer
- Restriction Fees (To Title Company)
- Revenue Stamps
- Survey Fee
- State Tax Stamps
- Statement of Ownership and Location (SOL) Application
- Tax Certificate
- Tax Deletion (To Title Company)
- Tax Service Fee - Initial examination
- Tax Transfer Fee
- Termite/Pest Inspection
- Title Binder
- Title Guaranty Fee
- Title Endorsements
- Title Examination Fee
- Title Inspection (To Title Company)
- Title Insurance (Lenders or Owners)
- Title Opinion/Policy (To Title Company)
- Transfer Tax
- Verifications - Cost of verifying or confirming info re: non APR item
- Warranty Deed Prep Fee
IF YOU HAVE TO GUESS, ASSUME IT TO BE A FINANCE CHARGE.