We have found several loans where the recording clerk either went back in time and credited an overage for recording fees to the customer's loan or kept the funds in the recording account. We should have paid these to the customer and corrected the Closing Disclosure. The majority of these are out of the date range to correct. My thought is that this is still the customer's money and we should correct and refund the money to the customer. I'm getting some kickback on this. I'm looking for some suggestions. What would you do?


Thanks.

Not much doubt about what you should do, even if you are outside the 30 day window:

19(f)(2)(iii) Changes due to events occurring after consummation.

1. Requirements. Under § 1026.19(f)(2)(iii), if during the 30-day period following consummation, an event in connection with the settlement of the transaction occurs that causes the disclosures to become inaccurate, and such inaccuracy results in a change to an amount actually paid by the consumer from that amount disclosed under § 1026.19(f)(1)(i), the creditor shall deliver or place in the mail corrected disclosures not later than 30 days after receiving information sufficient to establish that such event has occurred. The following examples illustrate this requirement. (See also comment 19(e)(4)(i)-1 for further guidance on when sufficient information has been received to establish an event has occurred.)

i. Assume consummation occurs on a Monday and the security instrument is recorded on Tuesday, the day after consummation. If the creditor learns on Tuesday that the fee charged by the recorder's office differs from that previously disclosed pursuant to § 1026.19(f)(1)(i), and the changed fee results in a change in the amount actually paid by the consumer, the creditor complies with § 1026.19(f)(1)(i) and (f)(2)(iii) by revising the disclosures accordingly and delivering or placing them in the mail no later than 30 days after Tuesday.

They should be getting a check, rather than having money credited to their loan balance.