I bought a townhouse in Los Angeles and there are some escrow fees that I do not understand. I was told that the items below are charged by the escrow. Which items are junk fees charged by the escrow?
1111-1113 Sub-escrow fee: $0.00
1111-1113 closing/escrow/settlement: $0.00
1111-1113 EDD to 3rd party: $150.00
1111-1113 Endorsement to title-other: $100.00
1111-1113 Doc prep - 3rd party: $75.00
1111-1113 Escrow/loan tie-in fee: $150.00
1201 Recording fee: $170.00
1303-1305 HOA transfer fee: $150.00
1303-1305 Wire transfer - 3rd party: $50.00
1303-1305 Capital contribution-HOA $205.00
1303-1305 Courier/messenger - 3rd party: $50.00
I asked them to explain and its so vague and does not make sense. I think most of whats listed is junk and inflated.
Endorsement to title is probably a fee charged for the title search, and based up the title search, the insurers has issued a title commitment. The title work is probably done by a third party search company and their fee is passed through to you.
Doc prep sounds like a lender fee they charge for whatever reason, perhaps they will say to put your closing package together and the Courier Fee is what the lender charged to get your closing package to the settlement attorney.
Escrow/loan tie in fee could be a one-time fee paid to a third party service to pay your property taxes from your escrow account.
Recording fee is the fee your county courthouse charges to record your deed and mortgage.
HOA transfer fee is the fee charged by the homeowner’s association for the property you purchased to certify that assessments and dues are current, there are no HOA liens on the property, and to provide you and the lender a copy of the HOA bylaws and a financial statement for the association.
Wire Transfer is the fee charged by the settlement attorneys bank to receive by wire transfer the funds your lender is bringing to the settlement table, and for the settlement attorney to wire whatever funds are required by the seller’s lender to clear title.
Capital contribution-HOA is often present when the property is a new construction and the HOA has no working capital to pay insurance policy premiums. Some of this fee may be used to fund the HOA working capital account, while some of it may be used to reimburse the builder for prepaid items such as an insurance policy.