Credit Report fee as a finance charge
I need to know whether I can treat credit report fees as finance charges. Someone out there please let me know where I can get this information. Thanks.
You should review the Truth In Lending Act to find the answer that best fits your question. Specifically 15 USC § 1605 and 12 CFR § 226.4 as they pertain directly to the situation outlined in your question. The generalities of this as related by the Federal Reserve states "For example, the TILA provides that credit report fees are finance charges, but makes an exception for credit report fees associated with real estate and most home-secured loans." But again, any decision you make should be with appropriate legal counsel and a thorough review of the regulation in mind.
In answer to you question re: finance charges please see the following link. http://www.occ.treas.gov/handbook/til.pdf - specifically, pages 95 and 96 which talk about what is included in a finance charge and what is not included. Credit report fees are excluded from the finance charge in real estate related transactions. Credit report fees may be part of an application fee and application fees that are charged to ALL applicants are not finance charges. Hope this helps. Steve