- A mortgage closing disclosure refers to a document that outlines the details of a mortgage loan, including associated costs that a borrower is expected to pay upon the closing of the loan.
- Its purpose is to provide clear and accurate information on loan terms, interest rates, monthly payments, closing costs, and other relevant fees to enable the borrower to make informed decisions regarding the mortgage.
- Typically, the lender provides the closing disclosure to the borrower at least three days prior to the loan closing.
The Significance of Mortgage Closing Disclosure
The closing disclosure is a mandatory statement that summarizes the final details of your mortgage loan, including the closing costs and loan terms, spanning across five pages. It provides a breakdown of information such as monthly payments, fees, and other associated costs.
To comply with legal requirements, your mortgage lender is obligated to provide you with the closing disclosure at least three business days prior to the loan closing. This allows you to review and compare the final terms and costs with the initial loan estimate that you received when applying for the mortgage.
It is advisable to scrutinize the closing disclosure thoroughly and cross-check it with the loan estimate to identify any changes or discrepancies. In case you notice anything unexpected or incorrect, you still have sufficient time to seek clarifications from the lender before the closing.
What’s in the Mortgage Closing Disclosure
| Loan terms | Check the figures and take note of whether the amounts of the following can increase after closing: the loan amount; interest rate; monthly payment including principal and interest; prepayment penalty, if any; and balloon payment, if any. |
| Projected payments | These add up to your monthly mortgage payment and include the principal, interest and private mortgage insurance (if applicable), as well as estimated escrow and estimated taxes, insurance and assessments, both of which can increase over time. |
| Costs of closing | This section shows your upfront costs, sometimes called “settlement costs.” It includes loan costs, lender credits and the amount you’ll be required to pay at closing. |
| Loan costs | This section includes origination charges such as application fees, underwriting fees and points that you have to pay. Items to be paid by the seller will be noted. Other loan costs are categorized as “services that the borrower did not shop for” — including the credit report and appraisal — and those that the borrower did shop for, such as the settlement agent fee and title search. |
| Other costs | These include recording fees, transfer tax and insurance premiums due at signing. |
| Calculating cash to close | This table breaks down your costs at closing, including any deposits you’ve already paid, credits and anything that has changed since your loan estimate was provided. |
| Summaries of transactions | This provides a detailed look at your costs, including the home price, closing costs and the seller’s costs. |
| Loan disclosures | Here you’ll see legal language describing important characteristics of your loan, such as assumption, demand feature, negative amortization and escrow. |
| Loan calculations | This disclosure shows the total amount you are agreeing to pay over the life of the loan, including interest charges. |
| Other disclosures | This includes more details such as the appraisal, missed payments and other aspects of your loan. |
| Contact information | This includes details on how to reach all the parties involved in your loan. |
| Confirm receipt | Signing this page at closing indicates that you’ve received it. |
What is the three-day waiting period?
The “Know Before You Owe” mortgage rule, also known as TRID (the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule), went into effect in 2015. This regulation includes a requirement that you receive your closing disclosure three business days before closing. This was meant to protect borrowers from surprises at closing.
By giving you three business days to review your closing disclosure, you’ll have time to check all the numbers and bring up any questions you might have before sitting down at the closing table. Take advantage of this time to look over all the terms of your mortgage loan, and talk to your lawyer, housing counselor or loan officer if you have any questions.
How to check your mortgage closing disclosure
With your most recent loan estimate handy, go through each line of the closing disclosure and compare the two documents, including:
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- Review the spelling of your name.
- Verify the property address.
- Ensure the loan description and amount matches the description and amount on the loan estimate.
- Double-check the loan type, interest rate, monthly payment and other terms.
- Confirm you understand all of the fees, and check if any new fees have been added.
- Look to see if your lender will be using an escrow account, and make sure you understand how it works.
What can and can’t change on the mortgage closing disclosure
When checking the closing disclosure, you need to know that some mortgage costs are allowed to change while others cannot. One thing that is certain: Lenders can’t deliberately understate your costs and then raise the prices at closing time.
In general, if any of the following was changed from your loan estimate or looks unfamiliar, contact your lender and ask for an explanation.
- Loan information – The majority of the time, this section should match your loan estimate. If it doesn’t, ask your lender why.
- Loan amount – Note that the loan amount can change, for example, if your closing costs were rolled in.
- Interest rate – If there is a change from the loan estimate and you locked your rate, ask for clarification from your lender.
- Estimated total monthly payment – This can change; be sure to ask for an explanation from your lender, if so.
- Closing costs/cash to close – These can also change.
- Services borrower did not shop for – Ensure there are no new services that were not on your loan estimate.
- Services borrower did shop for – If there are new services listed here, ask for an explanation from your lender on how these were chosen and why they were included.
Note that some closing costs cannot increase, such as fees paid to the lender or mortgage broker, or fees for required services that you did not shop separately for, or that you paid for from an affiliate of your lender or mortgage broker. Transfer taxes cannot increase, as well.
However, if there is a “change in circumstances” which requires a new loan estimate, these costs can change by any amount. A change in circumstances could be when you decide to get a different type of loan, put down a different amount, your home doesn’t appraise at the expected value, your credit file changes or your income documentation isn’t as expected.
Other closing costs can increase without limit, including prepaid interest, insurance premiums, initial escrow account deposits and fees for some third-party services. These costs are not controlled by your lender.
There is a third category of closing costs that are permitted to increase by up to 10 percent. These include recording fees and some third-party service providers. If there is a change in circumstances, these costs could increase by more than 10 percent.
What to do if there’s an error on the mortgage closing disclosure
If anything on the closing disclosure looks incorrect, you need to notify the loan officer and title company to fix it before the closing. The document may need to be redone — which could delay the closing date — so it’s important to contact them immediately.