01Lender requirements
Can your lender require you to use a certain closing provider?
Sometimes the lender chooses the provider. Other times the lender requires the service but allows you to shop for the company that performs it. Your Loan Estimate separates those two situations.
Provider Control Map
Section B
Services You Cannot Shop For
These are required third-party services for which the lender does not permit you to shop separately. The provider choice is controlled by the lender for purposes of the Loan Estimate.
Section C
Services You Can Shop For
These are required third-party services for which the lender allows you to shop. The lender provides a written provider list, and you may also be able to use another provider if the lender agrees.
What lender approval means
Being allowed to shop does not mean every provider must be accepted.
If you choose a provider outside the lender's list, the lender may need to determine whether it can work with that provider for your transaction.
That can involve service scope, timing, documentation, licensing or credential requirements, insurance, closing process requirements, and other transaction-specific considerations.
ClosingCash therefore treats lender confirmation as part of whether an alternative provider can actually move forward when that confirmation is needed.
A useful rule of thumb
Shop the services your Loan Estimate says you can shop.
Read the section
Do not assume a fee is shoppable because another buyer was able to shop it.
Compare qualifying options
Look at comparable service, total price, timing, and provider fit, not price alone.
Confirm the provider
When required, make sure your lender can work with the provider before changing your closing plan.
Know what is actually shoppable
ClosingCash starts with your lender's own Loan Estimate.
That keeps the comparison focused on the services your transaction identifies as shoppable.
Scan My Loan EstimateKeep reading
Related guides
Can You Choose Your Own Title Company?
Understand when title or closing services may be shoppable and what to confirm before using a provider outside your lender's list.
What Is Section C on a Loan Estimate?
Learn where Section C appears, what Services You Can Shop For means, and why this part of the Loan Estimate matters.
Which Closing Costs Can You Shop For?
See how to identify shoppable services and what to check before using a provider that is different from the lender's list.
Page information
Written by Matt Stein, Founder of ClosingCash
Updated
Sources and editorial note
This page provides general educational information. Loan requirements, available services, pricing, provider availability, and lender acceptance can vary by transaction. ClosingCash does not guarantee savings or outcomes.
Read our editorial and corrections policy, or email hello@shopmyclosingcosts.com to suggest a correction.