Question about fees paid to lender that I didn't use.

[Tooliebell]

I had an appraisal done with first lender that I paid $435.00 up front for.  I was told the appraisl was $385, and that I had to pay $50 upfront in case there was a need to re inspect anything.  THe appraisal was done. Because of their underwriting stipulations, I decided to find another lender.  Should I get a refund of the $50? 

They were complete arses' about the ending of our relationship.  And made me feel really bad that they had already invested so much money into my loan and were upset, I wouldn't allow them to split the land so they could do the loan.  I never even thought about this until today, but should I expect to get a refund or will they just keep the money I already gave them to cover "their" costs? 

They never sent me copies of what I signed either.  I do a GFE from them but that is all I have.

Edited to add:  I just looked at the GFE they sent me, it lists the appraisal fee as $350.00, and appraisal re-inspection fee as $130.00. 

[JM-AM]

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@Tooliebell wrote:

I had an appraisal done with first lender that I paid $435.00 up front for.  I was told the appraisl was $385, and that I had to pay $50 upfront in case there was a need to re inspect anything.  THe appraisal was done. Because of their underwriting stipulations, I decided to find another lender.  Should I get a refund of the $50? 

They were complete arses' about the ending of our relationship.  And made me feel really bad that they had already invested so much money into my loan and were upset, I wouldn't allow them to split the land so they could do the loan.  I never even thought about this until today, but should I expect to get a refund or will they just keep the money I already gave them to cover "their" costs? 

They never sent me copies of what I signed either.  I do a GFE from them but that is all I have.

Edited to add:  I just looked at the GFE they sent me, it lists the appraisal fee as $350.00, and appraisal re-inspection fee as $130.00. 

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IMO I believe you would be entitled to a refund. I would call them and ask for it. If for some reason they feel you are not entitled to the refund I am sure they will give you their reasons then. 

One thing to keep in mind that a GFE is a Good Faith Estimate and has the possibility to change for different reasons. In your case an example would be that the normal appraisal price on the size home you are purchasing is $350, but once appraiser arrived at the home he needed to do other things beyond the normal scope of things to come up with your proper appraisal. 

[DallasLoanGuy]

Section 8: kickbacks, fee-splitting, unearned fees

Section 8 of RESPA prohibits anyone from giving or accepting a fee, kickback or anything of value in exchange for referrals of settlement service business involving a federally related mortgage loan. In addition, RESPA prohibits fee splitting and receiving unearned fees for services not actually performed.

Violations of Section 8's anti-kickback, referral fees and unearned fees provisions of RESPA are subject to criminal and civil penalties. In a criminal case a person who violates Section 8 may be fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned up to one year. In a private law suit a person who violates Section 8 may be liable to the person charged for the settlement service an amount equal to three times the amount of the charge paid for the service.

The above is the actual law that governs lenders.

Send them a certiied letter and reference Sce. 8 of RESPA as reason why you will be expecting a refund of any monies paid over the actual invoice price

[IOBA]

+1

Give them a deadline for refunding the money.

And if you can, contact the appraiser first and ask for a copy of his invoice for your records.   That way you can compare what he sends you to what the previous lender claims.   I am not saying the lender would misrepresent things, but you have already discovered a discrepency.

[Tooliebell]

Can they site credit report fees and title fees as "earned" fees in order to not give me a refund?

[DallasLoanGuy]

they can deduct for the cost of the credit report.

tey would have to prove title fees to keep the money. title companies usually dont charge for dead deals