CFPB home-purchase booklet that helps borrowers compare Loan Estimates, closing costs, and settlement choices.
Your Home Loan Toolkit is a federal borrower-education booklet designed to help home buyers understand mortgage shopping, the Loan Estimate, closing costs, and the Closing Disclosure.
Mortgage disclosures provide transaction-specific numbers, but they do not by themselves teach a first-time buyer how to compare those numbers. The toolkit supplies that educational context. It prompts borrowers to consider affordability, compare offers, understand risky loan features, choose settlement services, and review documents before closing.
The booklet is not a personalized recommendation and does not replace the actual disclosures. Its value comes from using it alongside each lender’s Loan Estimate and the final Closing Disclosure.
For a covered written application to purchase a one- to four-family residential property, the lender generally must deliver or mail the special information booklet no later than three business days after the application is received or prepared. If a mortgage broker provides it, the lender generally does not need to provide a second copy.
The delivery requirement does not apply in the same way to every home-secured loan. Regulation X lists exceptions including refinances, reverse mortgages, closed-end subordinate-lien loans, and other loans not used to purchase a one- to four-family residential property. A HELOC has separate educational material addressing open-end home-equity credit.
This scope distinction is why one borrower may receive Your Home Loan Toolkit while another receives different materials.
| Item | Purpose | Transaction-specific? |
|---|---|---|
| Your Home Loan Toolkit | Teaches a purchase borrower how to shop, compare, and prepare for closing. | No |
| Loan Estimate | Estimates the offered loan’s terms, payment, and closing costs. | Yes |
| Written List of Service Providers | Identifies available providers for required services the borrower may shop for. | Yes |
| Closing Disclosure | Shows the final loan terms and closing-cost details. | Yes |
A first-time buyer applies to two lenders for a purchase mortgage. The buyer receives the toolkit and uses its comparison approach to review both Loan Estimates. One offer has a lower interest rate but higher points; the other has fewer upfront lender charges. The toolkit does not select the loan, but it helps the buyer frame the tradeoff and ask each lender consistent questions.
Near closing, the buyer compares the final Closing Disclosure with the selected Loan Estimate rather than assuming every final number will match the original estimate exactly.
The booklet is most useful as a working checklist rather than a document to file away. A borrower can use it to:
The actual Loan Estimate, rate-lock agreement, lender communications, and Closing Disclosure control the transaction details. The toolkit explains how to evaluate them.
Your Home Loan Toolkit differs from the Loan Estimate because the toolkit teaches a general comparison process, while the Loan Estimate discloses one lender’s transaction-specific terms and estimated charges.
It differs from TRID because TRID is the disclosure framework, while the toolkit is a borrower education resource connected to the process.
It differs from the Written List of Service Providers because that list supplies transaction-specific provider options. The toolkit explains why provider shopping may matter.