Question by westjm26: Refinancing Mortgage: Appraisal fee question?
My lender turned me down today do to issues with the condo association. Well, the appraisal has been completed and I have a copy of it. Because I never paid for it, am I legally required to? The only reason why I ask is because this particular lender has really upsetted me throughout this process and I feel that they should pay the $ 350, not me.
Thank you.
I signed nothing stating who was going to pay for this appraisal.
Best answer:
Answer by dusty_titus
Did you make a formal written bid on this condo? One of the best “weasel clauses” for the prospective buyer, is if the cost of appraisal will revert to the seller, if lender refuses buyer. But I guess you didn’t think of it. Always check the paper (offer to purchase) for who pays what – seller may pay for home warranty/appraisal/sundry costs not associated with purchase. Look at your paper work, you signed it.
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Upset or not, you are going to have to pay the $ 350. The appraisal was done because YOU applied for the refinance, the lender did not generate this request for services.
Lenders are not responsible for paying for your appraisal. If you refuse to pay it, they will bill the title company and the fee will come out of your earnest money before the earnest money is returned to you. Yes, you are legally required to pay for the appraisal. Being “upsetted” by a lender is no reason for you to skate.
The appraisal was done by a third party, this person has no affiliation to you, the condo or the lender. This person performed a job for YOU and deserves to be paid for doing that job. Unfortunately, the lender will not pay this for you. What probably happened is that the appraisal was ordered early in the game to get it out of the way, and while that was taking place, your lender had to get information from the Condo association. Based on the information received (lawsuits pending toward the association, number of owner occupy units, number of empty units, number of units occupied by renters… etc…) your lender was not able to locate an investor who will cover that refinance. I assume you are upset due to a lack of response or something like that, which is typical when a lender finds they cannot do a loan, they tend to ignore you and move on. Not really the thing to do, but I see it all the time. (not by me of course! LOL)
You are responsibile for this fee. I’m sure you signed some type of discloser stating you were going to pay so much for an appraisal, so much for a credit report, and so much for an application fee. You probably didn’t think it was a disclosure stating that though, you probably thought it was a run down of the fees.
Anyway, if you aren’t happy with the mortgage company give them a call. Tell them what they did wrong, why weren’t you happy. Maybe they will decide to just eat up the cost or at least give you a discount.
You signed a loan application, that is enough for them to bill you this. There is no possible way you can stick them with this bill.