Settlement Statements can be very confusing. Here is a quick breakdown of common fees and where they are listed on page two of the settlement statement.
800 Section
Line 801 will be any lender fees, including origination.
Line 802 will be any lender credits, if any.
Line 803 is line 801 minus line 802.
The other fees in the 800 sections will be the appraisal, credit report, flood certification, tax fee, and any other fee charged by a third party required to get the loan.
900 Section
Line 901 is the amount of prepaid interest. Interest is prepaid to the end of the current month.
Line 902 is any mortgage insurance premium due; it can be private or FHA mortgage insurance.
Line 903 is any premium due to the Home Owner’s Insurance Company.
1000 Section
The 1000 section shows how much money is needed to start an escrow account to pay the next tax and insurance bill. These amounts will change based on the tax and insurance due dates and the closing date.
1100 Section
The 1100 section is a summary of title charges. These include any title search fees, title insurance premiums, attorney fees, and any other settlement fees charged by the closing attorney’s office and title company.
For comparison, here is a quick breakdown of Origin Title’s fees, which will be added to the lender’s title insurance premium and totaled on line 1101:
Title Exam: $150 for a refinance or reverse mortgage; $250 for a purchase.
Title Binder: $100
Settlement Fee: $450
Wire Fee: $0
Overnight Delivery Fee: $0
Courier Fee: $0
Attorney Fee: $0
For purchases, the seller will incur a $35 fee per mortgage payoff to verify the proper releases get recorded after closing.
Owner’s Title insurance is highly recommended when purchasing real estate, but it is optional. That premium will be shown on line 1103.
1200 Section
The 1200 section is all government regulatory fees, recording fees, intangible tax, and transfer taxes.
Georgia has a $10 fee for all loans.
The recording fee is $10 for the first page plus $2 for each additional page and $2 for each cross-reference.
Intangible tax is $1.50 for every $500 or portion of the amount borrowed as listed on the Security Deed. Intangible tax is normally listed on line 1205 in the ‘Mortgage’ section.
The transfer tax is also normally listed on line 1205 as the Deed tax. Transfer tax is .1% of the sales price. (There are exemptions to the intangible and transfer taxes).
1300 Section
Section 1300 will be all other fees, including a survey, tax payments, or anything else due.