TRID Violations: How to Spot Fee Increases on Your Closing Disclosure

You compared your Loan Estimate to your Closing Disclosure and noticed several fees went up. Is that legal? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The answer depends on a federal rule called TRID and its system of tolerance buckets. Understanding how TRID works is one of the most powerful things you can do to protect yourself at the closing table.

What Is TRID?

TRID stands for the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule. It was issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in 2015 and combines two older federal laws: the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). Before TRID, borrowers received four different disclosure forms at various stages of the mortgage process. TRID replaced them with two standardized documents: the Loan Estimate (LE), which you receive within three business days of applying, and the Closing Disclosure (CD), which you receive at least three business days before closing.

The purpose of TRID is straightforward: make it easier for borrowers to understand the cost of their loan and harder for lenders and settlement providers to surprise them with inflated fees at the last minute. TRID achieves this by placing strict limits on how much certain fees can increase between the LE and the CD. When those limits are exceeded, you are looking at a TRID violation.

The Three Tolerance Buckets

TRID organizes every closing cost into one of three tolerance categories, often called buckets. Each bucket defines how much a fee is allowed to increase from the Loan Estimate to the Closing Disclosure. If the increase exceeds the allowed tolerance, the lender is required to refund the difference to the borrower. Here is how the three buckets work.

Common Examples of TRID Violations

TRID violations are more common than most borrowers realize. The CFPB has taken enforcement actions against lenders for systematic disclosure failures, and individual violations happen on a loan-by-loan basis all the time. Here are some of the most frequent scenarios borrowers encounter.

Origination fee increases. Your Loan Estimate quoted a $1,200 origination fee, but your Closing Disclosure shows $1,400. This is a zero-tolerance fee. Any increase, no matter how small, is a violation. The lender must refund the full $200 difference.

Appraisal fee bait and switch. The lender quoted a $450 appraisal fee on the LE and selected the appraiser. On the CD, the appraisal fee is $550. Because the lender chose the provider, this is a zero-tolerance fee. The $100 increase violates TRID.

Aggregate recording fees exceed 10%. Your LE listed $300 in recording fees and $800 in title-related fees from the lender's preferred provider list, totaling $1,100 in Bucket B fees. The CD shows $350 in recording fees and $950 in title fees, totaling $1,300. That is an $200 increase, which is 18.2% of the original $1,100. The lender exceeded the 10% cumulative tolerance by $90 (the amount over $1,210) and must refund that difference.

Transfer tax increase. Transfer taxes are a zero-tolerance item. If your LE showed $3,000 in transfer taxes and the CD shows $3,200, the lender owes you $200. Transfer tax rates are public record, and there is no justification for getting this wrong.

Missing revised Loan Estimate. A lender can reset tolerances by issuing a revised Loan Estimate, but only if a valid changed circumstance occurs (such as a change in the property type discovered during appraisal, or a borrower-requested rate lock). If the lender issues a revised LE without a legitimate changed circumstance, the revised figures do not count, and the original LE tolerances still apply. This is a common gray area where violations hide.

How to Check Your Closing Disclosure for Violations

The best way to catch a TRID violation is a systematic, side-by-side comparison of your Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure. Here is a step-by-step approach.

Step 1: Gather your documents. Pull out your most recent Loan Estimate (check for revised LEs, which supersede the original) and your Closing Disclosure. If you received multiple revised LEs, use the most recent valid one for each fee, unless you suspect the revision was issued without a legitimate changed circumstance.

Step 2: Categorize each fee. Go line by line through page 2 of both documents. For each fee, determine which tolerance bucket it falls into. The key question is: did the lender choose the provider, did you choose from the lender's list, or did you shop independently?

Step 3: Compare zero-tolerance fees individually. For every fee in Bucket A, the CD amount must be less than or equal to the LE amount. Flag anything that increased.

Step 4: Sum the 10%-tolerance fees. Add up all Bucket B fees on the LE, then add up the same fees on the CD. Calculate the percentage increase. If it exceeds 10%, you have a violation for the amount over the threshold.

Step 5: Review unlimited-tolerance fees anyway. Even though Bucket C fees are not capped, unusually large increases deserve an explanation. Ask your loan officer to justify any significant change.

You can speed up this process significantly by uploading your documents to the ClosingSense LE vs CD comparison tool, which automatically extracts and categorizes fees so you can spot tolerance violations in seconds instead of hours.

What to Do If You Find a TRID Violation

Finding a violation does not mean your closing is ruined. It means you have leverage and legal protection. Here is what to do.

Notify your lender in writing. Send an email (not just a phone call) to your loan officer and their compliance department identifying the specific fees that exceeded tolerance. Reference the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure amounts and cite TRID tolerance rules. Written communication creates a paper trail.

Request a corrected Closing Disclosure. The lender must issue a new CD reflecting the corrected fees. If the correction changes the Cash to Close, you are entitled to an updated figure. Under TRID, if a corrected CD is required, you may be entitled to a new three-day review period depending on the nature of the change.

Know the cure timeline. Lenders have 60 calendar days after consummation (closing) to cure any tolerance violation by refunding the excess amount. If they fail to cure within that window, the violation becomes a regulatory matter. You can file a complaint with the CFPB if the lender does not respond.

Consider delaying closing if needed. If the violation is significant and the lender is not cooperating, you have the right to delay closing until a corrected CD is issued. Do not let anyone pressure you into signing documents you know contain errors. Your three-day review period exists specifically to give you time to catch these issues.

File a CFPB complaint as a last resort. If the lender refuses to cure the violation, submit a complaint through the CFPB website. The CFPB tracks these complaints and has the authority to take enforcement action against lenders who systematically violate TRID. Individual complaints are also forwarded to the lender, which often prompts a resolution.

Why TRID Violations Matter More Than You Think

A single tolerance violation might only be worth a few hundred dollars in refunds. But the pattern matters. If a lender routinely underestimates fees on the Loan Estimate to win your business and then raises them on the Closing Disclosure, that is a systemic compliance failure. The CFPB has issued consent orders worth millions of dollars against lenders engaged in this practice.

For individual borrowers, catching a violation is about more than the refund. It signals that you need to scrutinize every other aspect of the loan. If the lender got the fees wrong, what else might be off? Check the interest rate, the loan amount, the escrow terms, and every other field on the CD. The Closing Disclosure is a legally binding document, and every number on it should be accurate.