Government forms are designed to accommodate the most common situations and serve the needs of the greatest number of applicants but sometimes they fall short. Real estate professionals may find that the basic HUD forms don’t always cover more complicated transactions. RESPA rules address this issue by allowing filers to add supplemental pages to the basic form.
For example, the HUD settlement statement form has space for the name and address of a single buyer and a single seller but houses are often owned by multiple people. A couple, married or not, might want to have both of their names on the title or a group of friends might buy a house together to be roommates or as an investment. All the names can be listed on the form by including supplemental pages with the identities of the additional borrowers or sellers.
Another common source of addendum pages are the sections listing various fees associated with the transactions. Fees associated with the loan, items the lender wants paid in advance, title and additional settlement charges often have more individual line items than will fit on the HUD closing statement. These charges must be listed on attached supplemental pages to be considered as part of the property sale or refinance.
The problem with trying to use a solution such as a fill-able PDF form is that agents cannot easily add more pages. The supplemental documentation can be generated independently but that creates the danger of the files becoming separated, creating an incomplete and inaccurate record of the transaction.
A better option is to use HUD settlement statement software with the capability to provide supplemental information. The entire document, including addendum pages, is printed at the same time and the case file keeps all the information together if it needs to be accessed later. Supplemental figures are added into the automatic calculations, ensuring that the totals on the form will be correct.
If you are a real estate agent, broker or other professional who needs assistance with HUD documents then you need to try EasyHUD, the real estate part of Easysoft’s suite of legal practice management software. Simplify and automate your real estate practice to give you more time to find clients and complete transactions.
