On May 12, 2010, the Governor of Georgia signed House Bill 1055 which became effective immediately.  The Bill includes a provision that increases the loan fee from $6.50 to $10.00 for each residential mortgage loan transaction that closes for which a security deed, a modification of a security deed or other form of modification of a security interest is recorded.  This fee is paid by the borrower, collected by the mortgage lender or mortgage broker and remitted to the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance.  Residential mortgage loan transactions closed on any date from May 12, 2010, through June 30, 2010 must begin submitting the $10.00 loan fee to the Department.  Residential mortgage loan transactions that closed on any date from January 1, 2010, through May 11, 2010, must submit the $6.50 loan fee.  After the current reporting period of January 1, 2010 through June 30, 2010 concludes, a $10.00 fee for each residential loan that closes will be applicable unless and until such time as a further law change may take effect.

Where do you disclose the Georgia $10.00 loan fee on the GFE and HUD-1?  HUD has advised that since this loan fee is a flat fee, it should be treated as a Government Recording Fee.  Accordingly, when entering the fee in DocMagic, users should select the "Government Recording" GFE category so that the fee will appear in Block 7 of the GFE and Line 1201 of the HUD-1 Statement.  If you have any questions concerning the subject matter of this article, please contact DocMagic's Compliance Department.