Do's and Don'ts While Your Loan is Being Underwritten

Any change in your employment, income, or credit profile, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, can adversely affect your loan approval. It is critical that you follow this list of Do's and Don'ts while your loan is being reviewed by an underwriter: 

• Do make the minimum monthly payments on your consumer debt until your new loan closes and funds. Any deviation from this may negatively affect your mortgage application.
• Do make sure that your mortgage payments are no more than 15-days late until your new loan closes and funds. As your application gets closer to settlement, please inform your Meridian Home Mortgage contact if you are at risk of paying your mortgage payment more than 15 days late.
  
  **Never pay your mortgage payment 30 or more days beyond the initial due date**
• Do answer or return calls from the Title Company working on your application. On occasion there are outdated or unreleased liens which can cloud the ownership of your property, or similar situations which require the Title Company to contact you and request information to clear your title in preparation of your potential closing.
• Do fax or email us any items that we request from you immediately. These items are required by the underwriter. All of the documents in your file have an expiration date. Every day that passes between the underwriter’s request and the time you provide them means additional items have the potential to expire. We will always be battling the underwriter to crunch time frames on your behalf and to immediately establish the first available closing date.
• Do hold onto all of the pay stubs, bank statements, retirement account statements, pension statements and social security statements that you receive electronically and through the mail until your new loan closes and funds. You may be required to provide them.
• Do not resign from your current job or retire during the loan process. If you have an opportunity to leave your current job for a better opportunity please reach-out to us prior to making a decision to determine how it might affect your loan.
• Do not open any new credit accounts or apply for new credit accounts prior to your new mortgage loan closing. Any new account or credit inquiry can easily be identified by the underwriter and may put your application at risk. We understand there are life situations that arise, such as the need to apply for student loans to finance a child’s upcoming college semester. We ask that you discuss these types of scenarios with us prior to taking action.
• Do not make any balance transfers on your existing credit card balances. Any new account or balance transfer may slow your mortgage application process.
• Do not pay off any existing consumer credit accounts in full (e.g. credit cards, auto loans, etc.) unless it is through the natural progression of making your minimum monthly payment.

Following these instructions will help to prevent any delays in your loan closing. Please call us at anytime if you have any questions or if you would like to discuss any specific scenario.