Page 4 of the Loan Disclosure is NOT just standardized same-for-every-loan boilerplate. Review Page 4 on your disclosure carefully, including these terms: Partial Payments — what policies does the lender provide? Late Payments — what penalties apply, after what period of time? Negative Amortization — are payments that do not fully cover the interest due allowed? Do they result in increased loan principal? Early Repayment, or "Demand". Can the lender require earlier repayment than originally scheduled? Assumable/Assumption: If you sell or transfer the property, can the loan also be transferred? Escrow Account details — study these to be clear on which costs are covered, and which are not.

Mortgage transactions involve taxes, escrow funding and some pre-payments. These costs should be considered in mortgage decisions. They include: Escrow funding, which is frequently required. Escrow funding covers future annual charges such as property taxes, homeowners insurance and mortgage insurance. Recording fees, which government agencies charge for keeping records defining legal ownership. Transfer taxes, which may be levied by municipalities, counties and states for handling the transfer of ownership records. Prepayments, which can include: Homeowners insurance premiums Mortgage insurance (if required) Property taxes for some months, in advance Prepaid interest, for the period from closing to 1st mortgage payment. These costs can vary between Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure. Ask your lender about the tolerance rules, or watch related videos here.

Regulations and disclosures for home mortgages and most other real-estate related loans do not apply to reverse mortgages, home-equity line of credit loans (HELOCs), or mobile home loans. Disclosures for these loan types require lenders to continue use of the Good Faith Estimate, Truth-In-Lending Disclosure and the HUD-1 form. In addition, the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure forms used for home mortgages are not required for housing assistance loans. These have separate regulations and forms; ask your lender for regulations, declarations and explanatory material.