Wow. I'm not a loan officer, but I worked for some sleazy ones very briefly until I learned how sleazy they were!
The "origination fee" and "broker fee" go right in their pocket. The origination fee is supposedly for originating the loan, as in, cold calling you and finding your business. If you just go to the bank and get a loan, refuse to pay this.
Second, the broker fee is just $$$ in his pocket. Their commission works two ways. The mortgage companies put out rates every day. Say that rate is 6.5%. They get a certain % commission (say 1%) if they charge you 6.5%. If they turn around and lock you into a 7% loan, they get a WHOLE LOT MORE commission. If they give you that 6.5%, they will ask you for a broker fee because they are not getting as much commission from the lender. They can even jack up the interest rate AND charge you a fee, if they are confident you don't know what you're doing. This is all in addition to "points" because you pay points to the lender, not the broker. A lot of this mess can be avoided by going through a bank and not a broker.
If all is done properly, these fees are outlined on something called a Good Faith Estimate. (If you have your original that will be your best bet in fixing this! But I bet he kept the only copy...) A good broker/lender will type this up and have you sign it. A slimeball broker will hand write it and then go back and add things later. Then they will change/increase those numbers and have you sign a new one at closing. You won't be paying much attention because you are signing 40 pieces of paper at closing.
Sometimes things genuinely change. Appraisals may not come back right, or you may owe extra taxes, or whatever. That's why you need a lawyer unless you know exactly what you are doing. It's worth the $150/hr to have someone sit there and look at the paperwork before you sign it.
Your loan won't fund for 3 days because you have what's called a "right of recision" You can tell them not to fund the loan and go get another one with a better broker or bank. Then you can start over and find someone who won't scam you! |