You Paid WHAT at your Closing? Time to Check your HUD-1 Form…

March 5th, 2013. By AbiK

We’ve had a number of people ask us about real estate fees this week after our story entitled “Illegal California Real Estate Fees Costing Consumers” posted. One of the biggest questions everyone has is this: How do you know—or where do you find out—if you’ve either paid too much in real estate fees, or worse, have been charged a fee illegally?

Anyone who’s bought a home knows that last day—the day when everything is finalized and you get the keys to your new home—is a day fraught with both excitement and the overwhelming sense that you’re signing your life away. If you were completely lucid for even one small moment, you might remember that you signed a form that looked like this—it’s the HUD-1 Settlement Statement that every home buyer signs at the closing:

Unfortunately, while in the throes of signing all the paperwork, who has time to really read every line item? And that’s what’s at the heart of some recent real estate fee investigations in California—some attorneys are investigating potentially illegal real estate fees that homeowners may have paid—without even realizing it—at their closing.

How do you know if you paid any illegal closing costs? Well, it’s best to have an attorney look at your HUD-1 form—you probably have that along with your title and any mortgage documents. But the first place to look on the HUD-1 if you have it, is on page 2 (see image below), under the section called “Title Charges”. Some of the real estate fee investigations have been focusing on things like exorbitant messenger fees. The HUD-1 will also show whether your homeowner’s insurance company is charging more than it is allowed to charge by law.

So, particularly if you bought a home in California, take a look at your HUD-1 form—and if you find anything that you don’t understand or think is questionable, reach out to a California consumer fraud attorney.

 

 

 

 

Tags: California Real Estate, Closing Costs, HUD-1 Form, Illegal Closing Costs, Real Estate Fee Lawsuit, Real Estate Fraud

This was posted on Tuesday, March 5th, 2013 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Class Action, Consumer Fraud, Real Estate . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.