Two issues here:
(1) Does the bank owe the borrowers a refund of the excess credit bureau fees? No, because the borrowers were not charged for the increased amount; they were charged for the pre-increase amount. The bank "ate" the increase, so no refunds are due.
(2) Is there a technical disclosure violation? Yes, because the borrower is supposed to get a disclosure of all costs, regardless of who pays them. There is no method provided in the regulation to correct the violation.
There are two things you can do to prevent such errors going forward. The first was taken care of when the loan operations staff was updated concerning the cost to be disclosed. The second is to ensure that when the next pricing change for credit report occurs, the loan operations staff (or whoever needs the information for completion of loan estimates and closing disclosures) is "in the loop."
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John S. Burnett
BankersOnline.com
Fighting for Compliance since 1976
Bankers' Threads User #8