First things first: two forms instead of four. The old Good Faith Estimate, HUD-1 Settlement Statement, and two Truth-in-Lending disclosures are being replaced by a Loan Estimate and a Closing Disclosure, effective October 3rd. Even better, the forms are both standard, and part of every mortgage transaction, so it becomes much easier to compare apples to apples. U.S. News & World Report goes into a lot more detail including impacts on the industry, potential effects on closing time, and some things that you’ll get to see for the first time ever.
