TRID Tolerance Categories Decoded for Texas Lenders
By Mo Choumil, Founder — Alltech National Title Published: 2026-05-07 · 9-min read
TRID tolerance violations are one of the most common causes of loan repurchase demands on the secondary market. For Texas lenders, the specific fee categories that get Texas files flagged — title insurance premiums, endorsements, recording fees — have enough Texas-specific characteristics that a national TRID compliance guide will only get you partway there. This piece is a Texas-focused walkthrough of the three tolerance buckets, how Texas title fees fit into each, and the disclosure discipline that keeps your Closing Disclosures clean.
This piece is a companion to the Texas Lender’s TRID-Compliant Title Guide. It assumes familiarity with TRID basics and focuses on the tolerance nuances that matter most in Texas closings.
A Quick Refresher: The Three Tolerance Buckets
TRID — the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule — requires lenders to issue a Loan Estimate within three business days of receiving a complete application. Fees disclosed on the Loan Estimate are subject to tolerance limits that govern how much they can increase by the time of the Closing Disclosure:
Zero tolerance fees cannot increase at all between the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure unless a valid changed circumstance is documented. A zero-tolerance fee that increases — even by one dollar — is a cure item.
Ten percent aggregate tolerance fees can increase, but the aggregate increase across all 10% bucket fees cannot exceed 10% of the total amount disclosed on the Loan Estimate. Individual fees can go up or down; the bucket as a whole is what’s tested.
No tolerance fees can change without limit between the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure.
Where Texas Title Fees Land in the Tolerance Buckets
Zero Tolerance: Lender-Selected Title Services
When the lender requires the borrower to use a specific title company (or any specific settlement service provider), the fees for that provider are zero tolerance. For most Texas lenders who mandate a preferred title company or have a captive title operation, this means:
- The lender’s title insurance premium (the loan policy premium) is zero tolerance if the lender selected the title company
- Any lender-required endorsements from a lender-selected title company are zero tolerance
- Abstract or title search fees from a lender-selected provider are zero tolerance
The practical implication: when you mandate the title company, you own the fee accuracy on those services. Your LE fees for title need to reflect what that title company will actually charge at closing — not a national average or a template estimate. Texas title premium rates are promulgated by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), so the premium calculation is deterministic given the loan amount. There is no excuse for disclosing an incorrect Texas title insurance premium on the LE if you know the loan amount at application.
Zero Tolerance: Transfer Taxes
Transfer taxes are zero tolerance regardless of who selects the settlement service provider. In Texas, there is no state-level real estate transfer tax — this is one of the ways Texas closings differ favorably from Illinois (which has state, county, and Chicago city transfer taxes stacked). However, some Texas municipalities and special districts have document recording fees or municipal levies that function like transfer taxes. These are zero tolerance and must be disclosed accurately on the LE.
Ten Percent Aggregate: Borrower-Selected Title Services
When the lender provides a written list of approved providers and allows the borrower to shop, the fees for title services the borrower selects from that list (or elsewhere) move into the 10% aggregate bucket. This is the provision that gives lenders flexibility when borrowers exercise their right to shop for title.
Texas-specific note: the owner’s title insurance policy is disclosed on the LE but is not counted in the TRID tolerance buckets in the same way as the loan policy. Owner’s title insurance in Texas is disclosed as an optional item, and TDI-promulgated rates mean the premium is calculable at disclosure time. The disclosure treatment of the owner’s policy has been a recurring source of confusion in Texas TRID compliance — confirm your LOS handles this correctly.
Ten Percent Aggregate: Recording Fees
Recording fees are in the 10% aggregate bucket — not zero tolerance. This is a common misconception. Recording fees can increase from the LE to the CD, subject to the aggregate 10% bucket limit across all such fees on the file.
For Travis County (and Texas generally), recording fees are per-page and deterministic based on document page counts. A lender who knows the approximate deed of trust page count can disclose recording fees accurately. Using a flat $50 estimate when the deed of trust is 18 pages and the county fee schedule produces an $80 actual charge creates an aggregate tolerance issue if other 10% bucket fees have also increased.
Texas Title Insurance Premiums — TDI Promulgated Rates
Texas title insurance premiums are set by the Texas Department of Insurance under the Texas Title Insurance Act (Title 11, Texas Insurance Code). Unlike most states where title insurance is priced competitively between carriers, Texas premiums are promulgated — meaning every TDI-licensed title company charges the same base premium for a given loan amount and property value.
This has direct TRID implications: there is no variability in Texas title insurance premium rates. Given a loan amount and a purchase price, the loan policy premium and owner’s policy premium are fixed. A lender who discloses an incorrect Texas title insurance premium on the Loan Estimate has a data entry error, not a market uncertainty problem.
Simultaneous issue discount. Texas promulgated rates include a simultaneous issue discount when both the loan policy and owner’s policy are issued at the same closing. The simultaneous issue rate for the loan policy is significantly discounted relative to the standalone rate. Texas lenders who disclose the full (non-simultaneous) loan policy premium on transactions where an owner’s policy will also be issued are overdisclosing — which creates its own TRID management burden when the CD reflects the lower simultaneous rate.
Endorsements. Texas endorsements (T-series endorsements under the TDI promulgated schedule) are also rate-fixed. ALTA 9 equivalents, survey coverage endorsements, and adjustable-rate endorsements all have fixed Texas rates. Lenders who estimate endorsement costs using national ALTA endorsement pricing rather than Texas T-series rates will have tolerance issues on Texas files.
Common Texas TRID Tolerance Triggers — and the Fix
Using national title premium estimates instead of TDI rates. Fix: configure your LOS to calculate Texas title premiums using the TDI rate chart. This is a system configuration item, not a disclosure-by-disclosure judgment call.
Estimating recording fees with a flat national average. Fix: use Travis County’s (or the applicable county’s) current per-page fee schedule to calculate recording fees based on estimated document page counts for your standard loan packages. Update the estimate quarterly.
Omitting Texas-specific endorsements from the LE. Texas lenders frequently require endorsements that are not standard in other states. If your standard Texas loan package includes survey coverage (T-19 equivalent) or a specific adjustable-rate endorsement, those need to be in the LE — not added at closing as undisclosed charges.
Changed circumstance documentation gaps. When a valid changed circumstance permits an LE revision — loan amount changes, property changes, new information about the property type — the documentation needs to be in the file before the revised LE is issued. Texas auditors and investor QC teams look for the changed circumstance trigger documentation, not just the revised LE.
Simultaneous issue rate not reflected in LE. When you know at application that both a loan policy and owner’s policy will be issued, use the simultaneous issue rates in your LE. Disclosing full rates and then reducing them at closing creates a CD-to-LE discrepancy that looks like a cure rather than a rate correction.
What to Ask Your Texas Title Company
The title company is your data source for most of the LE fees that end up in the tolerance buckets. The questions that matter:
- Are your fee quotes based on TDI promulgated rates for this loan amount and property value? The answer should always be yes on Texas files.
- What endorsements are you planning to issue on this file, and what are the T-series rates? This should be in your title fee quote at file setup.
- What is the estimated recording fee for your standard residential deed of trust package in Travis County? You want a number, not a range.
- If the property changes or the loan amount changes after LE, can you provide a revised fee quote within 24 hours? Changed circumstance re-disclosures are time-sensitive; your title company’s speed on revised quotes matters.
Alltech National Title provides Texas lenders with fee quotes based on TDI promulgated rates, current Travis County and Williamson County recording fee schedules, and the specific endorsements required for each file — not national averages. Our goal is that your LE fees land within the tolerance buckets without cures. For questions on Texas fee disclosure, reach us at (703) 934-2100 or info@alltechnational.com.
For the full Texas title compliance picture for lenders, see the Texas Lender’s TRID-Compliant Title Guide.
Mo Choumil is the founder of Alltech National Title, an Inc. 5000-ranked, AI-native title company. Alltech National is a TLTA member and TDI-licensed title agent serving lenders, buyers, and real estate professionals across Texas and nationally.
