You applied weeks ago, locked your rate, and now—finally—the Closing Disclosure lands in your inbox. Federal law requires your lender to deliver it at least three business days before closing, and that window exists for one reason: so you can compare it to your original Loan Estimate and confirm the numbers make sense.
The three-business-day rule
Saturdays count as business days; Sundays and federal holidays do not. If your CD arrives Monday at noon, the earliest you can close is Thursday. If the lender changes your APR by more than 0.125 percentage points, your loan product, or adds a prepayment penalty after the initial CD, the three-day clock resets. These figures are illustrative; rates and products are subject to change and this is not a commitment to lend.
Page one: loan terms and projections
Start at the top. Confirm your loan amount, interest rate, and monthly principal-and-interest payment match what you locked. Check whether your rate is fixed or adjustable, and if adjustable, verify the adjustment schedule and caps. Below that, the Projected Payments table shows your full monthly obligation—including estimated escrow for taxes and insurance—and flags when that figure may change. If you're buying down your rate with discount points or the seller is contributing, those appear in the Costs at Closing summary.
Page two: closing costs, side by side
This is where the Loan Estimate comparison lives. Section A covers origination charges—your lender's fee and any broker compensation. Section B lists third-party services you could not shop for (appraisal, credit report, flood cert, tax service). Section C covers services you *could* shop (title, escrow, survey). Section E holds taxes, recording fees, and transfer stamps. Section F is prepaids: interim interest, the first year's hazard premium, and initial escrow deposits.
What can change? Origination charges in Section A cannot increase if they were itemized on your Estimate. Sections B, E, and F can rise without limit—recording fees and property taxes are set by government, and prepaids depend on your closing date. Section C items you shopped yourself can increase up to ten percent in aggregate; if you used a lender-recommended provider, they cannot increase at all.
Cash to close reconciliation
Page three shows your final number: down payment, closing costs, minus any credits or earnest money already in escrow. Compare this figure to the Loan Estimate version. If it moved by more than a few hundred dollars, ask your loan officer why. Common culprits: a later closing date (more prepaid interest), a higher-than-expected tax bill, or a title endorsement you added mid-stream.
The Alliance take
Read your Closing Disclosure the day it arrives, not the morning of closing. If a fee looks wrong or a credit is missing, you have three days to surface it. Waiting until you're at the table turns a fixable discrepancy into a postponed closing and a frantic wire recall. When you're confident the numbers reconcile, start your application or reach out—we'll walk the CD with you before you sign.