How are title fees shown on a Loan Estimate?

Loan Estimate sections are organized by who controls the charge and whether the borrower can shop for it. Section B is services the borrower cannot shop for. Section C is services the borrower can shop for, which is where the title search, settlement fee and most title lines sit in New York.

Section E is taxes and government fees: recording charges, and in New York the transfer taxes and the mortgage recording tax where they fall on the borrower. These are set by statute and by the city and county, so they are not negotiable and not shoppable.

Tolerance rules make the sections matter. Charges the borrower did not shop for are held to tighter tolerances than charges in Section C where the borrower chose a provider off the written list. A charge that appears late or grows past tolerance can require a lender credit or a redisclosure.

The owner's policy line is a frequent point of confusion. Where an owner's policy is optional it is disclosed as optional, and the disclosed figure may be calculated differently from the actual filed premium when both policies are issued together. Ask for the actual figures rather than reading the disclosure alone.

Compare the Loan Estimate to the Closing Disclosure and to the settlement statement side by side. If a title line moved between sections or changed amount, that is the question to ask before closing rather than after funds move. Your attorney can tell you which movements are ordinary and which ones point to a tolerance problem the lender has to cure.