Buyer Paying Attorney Fees for Fannie Mae??? Really? Beware!

[Deborah Moser]

Hey BP need your help...Just encountered an issue that has me stumped. We are about to close on a Fannie Mae REO property purchased at auction and discovered (much to our surprise) when looking at the HUD-1 closing statement that we are responsible for paying the attorney fees for the seller of the property. We were repeatedly told (by our attorney) that if we did not pay their attorney fees, that we would be breaching the contract of sale. I personally originally read the contract before signing, and there was nothing "specific" in the contract identifying the buyer as being responsible for that fee (nor what that actual fee is). We were wondering if anyone else has encountered this in the past, and if so, how did you handle it. When we questioned our attorney, he had never encountered this issue before and he thought perhaps it may be part of some new FNMA regulations?

Ultimately, we have no choice but to pay the additional $700, because we already have ordered and received title work and survey.......so we have more to lose than FNMA.  Unfortunately, we just added that cost onto the purchase price of the unit (frown).  I like to keep the surprises down to what we find in the walls, not on a closing statement.  Any thoughts or experiences here?

[Greg H.]

FNMA is famous for interpreting their addendum the way they see fit at the moment !

Last year I had a similar deal where at closing they wanted me to pay $425 in attorney's fees. Fortunately, the closing was delayed a few days as the title company was having trouble getting the resale certificate from the POA. In the meantime I wrote an email to the Asset Manager stating that I was the lender(Biught under my LLC) and that the $425 could not be on the HUD and they waived it ! I then closed for cash and went to Happy Hour with the saved $$ !