Consumer complaint received 2017-01-07
Company: REGIONS FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: GA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Settlement process and costs

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX, I locked on my interest rate and the general terms of a mortgage from Regions Mortgage in XXXX. I received a closing disclosure, which had several errors ( extraneous charges approx. $ XXXX ), which I had corrected. In the closing disclosure, the lender estimated the Lender 's title insurance to be {$1100.00} and the Owner 's Title Insurance to be {$3000.00}. 

While we did replace insurance carriers, prior to closing ( XX/XX/XXXX ) the purchase price, mortgage amount, interest rate, Lender 's and Owner 's Title Insurance amounts remained constant. On the afternoon of XXXX XXXX, the day before close, the lender provided an updated closing disclosure document listing revised numbers for the Lender and Owner 's Title Insurance of {$1100.00} and {$6200.00} respectively, which is an increase of {$3100.00}. Based on my review of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau site, is not permitted. 

Summary of concerns : Last notice and scope of change AND no proactive notice of change. Delivery of the closing disclosure the day before close AND without proactive notice of the change eliminated time to shop or negotiate for an alternative attorney and or title company. 
Gross miscalculation of Owner 's Title Insurance. The maximum rates for Title Insurance were mandated by the State of Georgia XX/XX/XXXX. It is a simple formula AND none of the important numbers ( purchase price, mortgage, down payment, etc.. ) changed during the entire lending process, so there is no excuse for inaccurately estimating these fees in all prior closing disclosures. 
Realization that the attorney / title company makes up to XXXX % commission on the sale of title insurance. While the disclosure in the attorney / title company commission used to be in the HUD forms, it is no longer included, so I received no notice of this commission o The attorneys made ( $ XXXX {$6200.00} = {$7400.00} XXXX = {$5900.00} in commission ) plus {$950.00} in other fees for a grand total of {$6800.00}. This is pretty amazing for a few of hours of work, not all of which were conducted by an attorney. 
General disclosure. The attorney / title company, lender or real estate agent never mentioned I had the right to secure my own title insurance policy. Also, I can not find this disclaimer in any of the paperwork received by any of these companies. Additionally, until the attorney presented me with a disclosure that he represented the lender and not me, no real estate professional mentioned to me that I could or should have my own representation present. 
Presentation of detail. It would be one thing if I missed the fine print, but I was never presented a HUD1 during this process, which would have disclosed the commission. 
Risk to closing. In preparation to close, I had to wire transfer the funds two days prior to close. If I had not secured a lower cost of home owners insurance, I may not have had the funds present in order to close on time and I could have incurred penalties. 

My objective in filing this complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is to determine if I could have negotiated with an attorney to return the majority of the commission from the commissions they received from the Title Insurance commission. If this was legal at the time of closing on the house ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I want the lender to make me whole by repaying me {$4700.00}, which is 80 % of the commission from the title insurance or I want {$3100.00} back from lender. In addition, I very much want to change the disclosure rules required of the real estate agent, mortgage lenders, title companies and attorneys in the State of Georgia. 

In my opinion, capping the cost of Title Insurance it eliminates serious competition and thus harms consumers. The lack of proactive disclosure around options and the undisclosed and significant commission received by the attorney / title company is shameful.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation