Till all paperwork is reviewed matter of he said she said. No one can render an opinion. Buyer always pays for appraisal usually up front prior work taking place. Unconfirmed if closing costs were if exceeded all expenses seller pay costs up to $5K

Have your buyers agent or mortgage broker resolve all these issues

National Featured Realtor and Consultant, Texas Mortgage Loan Officer, Credit Repair Lecturer
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Lynn911
Lynn911

How is the contract worded? Typically there is a flat fee amount for closing costs. If buyer goes under that amount, there is no refund. If buyer goes over that amount the buyer would be responsible for the difference. This is on the standard 1-4 family TREC contract.

Typically I would say appraisal is a buyer expense, but you could of course work this into the agreed flat amount that the seller would pay.

In the end I hope you will pay the appraiser. You got the appraisal and this is a normal buyer expense, most often paid for directly by the buyer before the appraisal is even done. I'm actually surprised you got a copy of it without having first paid for it. You are the one who benefitted from the appraisal being done...without it you could not have gotten a loan or the house. I can see where the misunderstandings happenned on all sides of the issues, from your point of view, from the lender's and from the appraiser. The lender in most cases would not have paid for it, but would have charged it back to you or collected fees up front.

My guess is if the appraiser took the claim to small claims court they would probably win the case against you and potentially be able to put a lien on your home for the amount and court costs. It's probably not worth that fight or hassle and probably just easier to pay them.

It sounds like an honest mistake by the lender. Appraisers get paid at the time they render their services because if you close on the house or not, they MUST get paid. Their job is done.

The same thing as a home inspector. Did you pay them at the time of the inspection?

It's only $350-$450. You need to pay it. If you don't, the appraiser can put a lien on your house and that would cost you a lot more to remove it in the future.

Naima
214-289-8555
Naima@Sumner-Realty.com


p.s. Where was your Realtor in all this?

It is highly unusual for the appraiser not to be paid at the time of appraisal. So, it is actually not surprising that lender 2 thought it was paid already. However, there is normally a re-write fee to transfer an appraisal from lender 1 to 2, unless it is FHA.

Your Realtor should have advised you to submit the invoice and should have taken care of this for you. What did she advise you?

The item needed to appear on the settlement statement and paid by someone. The invoice belonged with the escrow officer, not the loan officer. Your Realtor would know this. Normally, this would be a buyer expense, but per contract as you explained, it would have appeared as a seller expense.

Kristina,

Two points for future use, one is always use a good real estate consultant, who will protect your interests throughout the process, and two is always get a written Good Faith Estimate.

Best Wishes!
Nicole Arenas, Real Estate Consultant
Realtor, WDR