Please tell me I'm thinking about this correctly.....Origination fee charged by the bank, if it is paid by the seller it is not a finance charge. From Reg Z definition of finance charge:
It includes any charge payable directly or indirectly by the consumer and imposed directly or indirectly by the creditor as an incident to or a condition of the extension of credit.

It has to be both paid by client and charged by bank to be a finance charge - true? In my case, it's a bank charged fee but b/c not paid by the client it is NOT a finance charge correct?

I would agree that if the fee is not paid by the borrower it is not a finance charge.

Is my thinking wrong in that the bank is going to charge the origination fee regardless of which party will pay the fee. In my mind the fee is being "indirectly" paid for by the seller.

right, the bank is charging the fee no matter who pays. But the fee isn't being paid by the borrower, it is being paid by the seller. Does anyone know how Reg Z interprets "indirectly by the borrower"? The word "indirectly" is tripping me up but the "by the borrower" is as well b/c the fee is being paid by the seller.

Seller paid points/origination fees are not finance charges.