Apparently examiners have recently slammed a few lenders for the failure deliver a GFE or for the failure to provide the GFE within the required three business day period. The penalty examiners are imposing for this RESPA violation is a refund of all fees imposed in the transaction.
Yes; you read that correctly, a refund of all fees. Some bankers are asking what happened to the 10% tolerance applicable to certain items on the GFE. Well, the examiners are applying the 10% tolerance. 10% of $0.00 is $0.00.
In at least one case the examiners discovered the lender backdated the GFE trying to hide the violation. This just makes a bad situation worse. You still have the RESPA violation, still have to reimburse all the fees, and the examiners catch you cheating. Examiners sometimes show a little tolerance for inadvertent violations. Intentional violations will not get you any breaks from an examiner.
