Credit Plus Inc. has announced that it will offer a single-price credit report, the price of which will be based upon a lender’s business model. The new pricing option will assist lenders and mortgage brokers in achieving compliance with regulatory changes, effective Jan. 1, 2010, that were made to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD).
The new rules require lenders and brokers to provide customers with a standard Good Faith Estimate (GFE) that clearly discloses all loan terms and closing costs. Closing agents are then required to provide borrowers with the new HUD-1 Settlement Statement that clearly compares consumers’ final costs with the originally quoted costs. The final price for several services, including the credit report, must be within 10 percent of the quoted price or lenders may face penalties beginning May 1, 2010.
“Offering the option of a single-price credit report provides much-needed flexibility in today’s mortgage environment,” said Greg Holmes, national director of sales and marketing at Credit Plus. “We believe the single pricing structure will facilitate compliance with the new HUD regulations, particularly the Good Faith Estimate.”
The Credit Plus single-price credit report will include:
► Supplements that lenders can customize
► Potential score improvement alerts
► Unlimited secondary use fees
► Unlimited Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reissue fees.
The new standard Good Faith Estimate form requires that lenders and mortgage brokers clearly disclose the loan term and type, interest rate, whether there is a pre-payment penalty and/or balloon payment, and itemized closing costs. The new standard HUD-1 Settlement Statement enables a borrower to compare an itemized list of all fees from the Good Faith Estimate with actual closing costs.
“Long-run and short-run, our single-price credit reports mean lenders and mortgage brokers have one less thing to worry about,” said Holmes.
Lenders and brokers who do not wish to purchase single-price credit reports will continue to have the ability to purchase credit reports within Credit Plus’ traditional price structure. Credit Plus offers scoring tools, Tax Return Verifications, flood reports and other services in addition to credit reports.
For more information, visit www.creditplus.com.
