It took years of back-and-forth, but the federal government finally acted on its effort to simplify the Good Faith Estimate. In 2010 consumers will get to decide whether the government was successful or not. Starting Jan. 1, lenders will be required to use HUD’s new three-page GFE. It uses simplified language and requires lenders to state up front the loan amount, loan term, interest rate, and monthly payment. Armed with these clear and firm facts, consumers can compare lenders’ offers. HUD’s effort is also intended to protect borrowers from big surprises at the closing table. The department revised its HUD-1, so comparisons between the GFE and the final charges are also supposed to be easier to discern. In fact, HUD has imposed strict limits on how much the GFE figures can change. Some charges, like the origination fee, can’t change at all. Others like the title search fee can change but not by more than 10 percent. If the alterations exceed what’s allowed, the parties can still close but they have to fix the discrepancy within 30 days.