Government’s 69-page plan to trim mortgage paperwork

The Wall Street Journal (online registration required): The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau needed a weighty tome of a report today to outline its plan for streamlining and shortening the closing process for homeowners. Unlike mortgage documents, thankfully each page won't have to be signed and initialed. The dozens of disclosures and disclaimers and boiler plate contracts serves to cap off the misery of buying or selling a home with one final aggravation. But officials say the confusing forms also contribute to many home buyers being unaware of last-minute fee changes that could add hundreds of dollars to the monthly cost of home ownership.

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