Credit Application Process
Get the items mentioned in Step 1: Pre-application and speak with a loan officer after you have a good idea of the loan programs you are interested in and have found a company and loan officer who you feel you can deal with. It is best to have your loan pre-approved (not pre-qualified) prior to searching for the property you wish to buy. Many professional real estate agents and brokers will even require this of you before they will spend any time showing you properties.
Once you get to the mortgage company he will fill out an application form called Uniform Residential Loan Application also called URLA or a 1003 (”ten-o-three”) in the industry. Here is a URLA for your review.
Here are the documents you may need for your loan application.
For Income:
- W-2 for the past 2 years
- Check stubs showing you year to date income (you will need the previous 1 month’s worth of check stubs.
- If you are self employed or receive much of your income via commission. You will need the previous 2 years tax returns.
- If self-employed you may need a Balance sheet or Profit and Loss Statement, but not always. (NOTE: self-employed means that you own at least 25% of a corporation).
- If you get a pension, Social Security or VA benefits, you will need a copy of our annual benefit letter.
For Proof of Assets:
- The previous three months bank statements for ALL accounts. (You may have plenty of money in one bank, but by having more cash in other accounts, it will be easier to qualify for the loan).
- Quarterly or monthly stock statements from brokerage firms.
- 401K account statements (especially if you are getting money from this account).
Other items:
- Driver’s License and Social Security Cards
- Divorce degree (if applicable).
- Landlords Name address and phone number for the past two years.
- Employer’s HR department address and phone number of each employer for the past two years.
- If you rent or have other property bring the property address, copy of any leases, and the mortgage company you pay.
- A list of creditors, which you should have from the credit reports you have.
- Sales Contract if you have one yet.
If the loan is a refinance, bring you old HUD I Closing Statement, title insurance policy and hazard Insurance policy.
A good loan application will take about 1-1.5 hours. Some people do it faster than that, but a good Loan officer will take that much time to help you understand the loan and the process. They will answer your questions as you should have many. They should also take the time to calculate the income and asset properly based upon the information you gave them.
WARNING: if a loan officer does not take the time to explain the process and the loan terms to you, either he/she is too new to help you, ignorant of the loan you are getting, or does not care or want you to know he/she is going to do.
MCA offers a product to protect you against potential mortgage fraud and over-charging. It is called the Consumer Protection Plan. A Mortgage Professional will review your initial mortgage disclosure documentation and when the loan is ready to close the MCA professional will also review your closing settlement documents to make sure you received the correct program, rate and fees as initially disclosed.
