What is Acknowledgement of Receipt of GFE?

Acknowledgement of Receipt of Good Faith Estimate is a letter signed by the loan applicants to acknowledge their receipt of the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) on the date mentioned in the letter. This document is usually sent along with the GFE.

The document is generally prepared by the loan processing department and included with the GFE. The mortgage loan originator is usually responsible for providing the GFE and getting the borrowers to complete the Acknowledgement of Receipt of GFE.

The main purpose of this document is to demonstrate that the lender has provided the GFE to the applicants within the time period stipulated in Regulation X. Regulation X rules require the lender to provide the initial GFE to the loan applicants within three business days of receiving a loan application. Additionally, a revised GFE must be sent within three days of receiving information of a changed circumstance. Regulation X implements Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), which is enforced by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

While the GFE needs to be provided to the loan applicants, the Acknowledgement of Receipt of GFE is not required by RESPA rules or any other regulation. A lender may choose to demonstrate delivery of GFE through other means and not use Acknowledgement of Receipt of GFE.

Contents of Acknowledgement of Receipt of GFE

The Acknowledgement of Receipt of GFE may contain the following information:

1. Date Prepared
2. Application Number
3. Applicant(s) Name
4. Lender Name
5. Lender Address
6. Subject Property
7. Date of Receipt of GFE

Borrower's Considerations

Review Dates

You should review the Acknowledgement of Receipt of GFE to ensure that the date of providing the GFE is correct. For face to face applications where the GFE was provided in person the date of receipt of GFE should be the same as when you had received it in person. For GFE that was received by mail there may be one to two day difference between the date when lender mailed the GFE and the date when you received the GFE. Acknowledgement of Receipt of GFE will usually have the date when the lender mailed the GFE. However, be wary of cases when the lender is trying to put in the date of receipt of GFE that is much earlier than what could be explained by normal mailing times.

Lender's Considerations

Recordkeeping

Acknowledgement of Receipt of GFE is not required by Regulation X, and therefore, there are no legally mandated record-keeping requirements for this document. However, since the purpose of the document is to demonstrate compliance with the Regulation X requirements we recommend maintaining the Acknowledgement of Receipt of GFE in the loan file for a period of at least five years from the date of settlement. The document retention period will be consistent with other record-keeping requirements of Regulation X. For declined, cancelled, or withdrawn applications, the document should be maintained for as long as the loan application file is maintained, which would normally be at least 25 months from date of action taken to be consistent with Regulation B recordkeeping requirements.

Document Summary

Sample Documents

1. Sample Acknowledgement of Receipt of Good Faith Estimate

Updated: Sep 27, 2013