There's a new provision in the final RESPA ruling called the "Tolerance" rule and imposes a liability on the lender for charges incurred during the settlement process. The intent of this rule is to allow borrowers to receive an accurate Good Faith Estimate (GFE) early in the application process enabling them to effectively shop for settlement services. The rule does allow the lenders some flexibility for charges that are beyond their control (ie. Government Recording Fees).
The tolerance rule breaks down settlement service charges into three (3) categories. The first category are charges that cannot change, (zero tolerance) between the time the GFE was issued and the final HUD-1 is signed at closing. The second category are charges that in total, can increase by a maximum of 10% (10% tolerance), and the final category are charges that can increase by any amount (no tolerance).
The key thing to remember when it comes tolerances is that the rule only applies if the borrower uses a settlement services provider either chosen or recommended by the lender. If however, the borrower chooses their own settlement services provider, this rule does not apply.
For detailed information on the tolerance rules and the specific charges within each category, please review the information provided at the ALTA site by using the following link.
http://www.alta.org/respa/08-11-13_RESPAsummary.pdf