Getting your mortgage application through underwriting can feel like starring in a sequel of Mission Impossible at the best of times but even more so lately. So is the underwriting department just messing with you?
They lost you documents for the third time, want a copy of your ten year old divorce decree, and demand original copies of documents it is impossible to get ahold of or come up with the wildest calculations. Are they really this out of touch and unorganized or is it a joke?
Mortgage underwriters definitely seem to be a special breed. It often seems that they must have been neglected children who were picked on every day at school and who have made it their life’s mission to take revenge on anyone attempting to get a mortgage by making the process hell. In some cases this may well be true. Often it is poor education and organization and a lack of common sense. However, in others it can be a case of lenders making excuses not to do loans they just don’t want to do. Before you punish yourself with jumping through the endless hoops thrown at you it is important to recognize the difference so that you can make an educated decision on whether to push on through or take your mortgage application somewhere else.
What can be done about tough mortgage underwriters?
This is when it really pays to have an awesome mortgage broker on your side. A good mortgage broker who has experience, knows their stuff and has built solid connections is well worth whatever they charge and at least as much as the deposit money could lose if your transaction falls through due to horrible underwriting.
A power broker can jump in and educate an underwriter on how they should be looking at things, get conditions waived and exceptions made, help to highlight the compensating factors and why this is a good loan to be made and even go above the heads of the underwriting department to the execs. whom they have lunched and shared a drink at happy hour with.
Don’t expect this type of service and effort from a salaried loan officer at a bank. They care very little whether you get approved or not.
