HUD pulls proposed rule over mortgage closing costs - 2004-03-22
Federal housing officials are taking back a proposal they indicated could have saved consumers hundreds of dollars on mortgage closing costs, the Bush administration's top housing official said Monday.

A "significant number of questions" have been raised about the proposed changes to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, acting Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson said in a letter to the Office of Management and Budget.
Read the full story at Beaufort Gazette Online

Take a bite out of mortgage closing costs - 2004-03-22
With mortgage rates back close to record lows, financing a house is dirt cheap these days, right?
Not if you pay a fortune in closing costs.

As anyone who has shopped around for a mortgage knows, it's extremely difficult to compare one lender's offering to with that of another lender because the up-front fees vary so much and are not guaranteed. Lenders and their venders can, and sometimes do, add or inflate fees in the eleventh hour of a transaction.
Read the full story at CNN Money