Upfront disclosures are the "meat and potatoes" of the home loan that Boise home buyers are applying for. These disclosures are duplicates of the final loan documents that the home buyer will be signing at the end of the transaction.
For many years the disclosures where taken for granted and abused by lenders. What I mean by that is the borrower was never given the opportunity to review and sign these critical documents at least 7 days prior to going to the closing table.
My wife has been an escrow officer for 20 years and would sign 10 to 15 transactions a day. She would come home from work and talk about the frustration of having to prepare the official loan documents, AND take an additional 15 to 20 minutes to have the home buyer sign the documents that were to be signed prior to the appointment.
Signing 2 sets of loan documents on the same day defeats the whole purpose of upfront disclosures. Why does this happen? Lenders are often too lazy or "too busy" to bother. This is a huge disservice to home buyers. The home buyers are given no opportunity to ask questions and make any changes. Instead they are put in a "take or leave it" position. The moving truck was out front and they would lose the house and their deposit if they didn't sign. The home buyers had no choice.
I would ask my wife, and other escrow officers, how often does this happen? They would say about half the time and it would usually be the same mortgage companies over and over. That is the way they did business.
Finally times have changed. As of August 1st, 2009 the new 3-7-3 rule has been put in place. The new rule means that the home buyer MUST have their upfront disclosures 3 days after their mortgage loan application has been submitted. They must have these disclosures a minimum of 7 days before they can sign their final loan documents. And if there are any changes to the loan terms, there is a 3 day waiting period before the home buyer can go to sign their final loan documents.
It is the responsibility of ALL loan officers to educate ALL home buyers. We need to be the ones who guide the next generation of home buyers. It is not only the right thing to do, but it will be one of the first steps in bringing some credibility back to our industry.
Please go to my first time home buyer "Bill of Rights".
Craig Ballhagen-Guild Mortgage-Boise-208-713-3309
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