Stop 5 of 8 · Daily
The loan file
Underwriting conditions turned into a list a borrower can act on, an update in plain English, and a timeline with no date the loan system has not given.
Two hats, one file
Daniel's buyers are often Daniel's borrowers, which means the same person delivers the good news about the offer and the request for the fourth pay stub. The lending side is where clients decide whether he is organised, and it is almost entirely paperwork chased by email.
It is also the side with the hardest rule in this course. The loan origination system holds the conditions, the dates and the terms. Claude never decides whether a condition applies, never predicts when one will clear, and never sees a number off a borrower document.
Conditions into actions
An underwriter writes for another underwriter. Borrowers read that and freeze. The translation is mechanical, so it should not be costing Daniel half an hour a file.
| Condition as written | What the borrower needs to read |
|---|---|
| VOE reflecting YTD and prior two years | We need your employer to confirm your job and dates, we will request it |
| LOE re: deposit 4/18 | Tell us in your own words where one deposit came from |
| Updated HOI dec page, mortgagee clause | Ask your insurance agent for one page, we will send the wording |
[paste the condition names from the loan origination system, with no figures] Turn each of these underwriting conditions into a line with three parts: what it is in plain English, who produces it (borrower, employer, insurance agent, escrow, or me), and what a complete answer looks like. Group them into what the borrower has to do, what I chase, and what is already ordered. Do not say when anything will clear and do not guess whether a condition is needed. If a condition is ambiguous, put it in a list at the end for me to ask underwriting about.
Write the three questions I should ask [the borrower] so they can explain a deposit into their account in their own words: what it was, where it came from, and whether it is repayable. Then give me a short template with blanks they fill in themselves. Do not write any explanation for them and do not ask me for the amount.
Write the weekly update to [the borrower on Cortez]. Structure: what cleared this week, what is outstanding and who is holding it, what I need from them and by when. Six sentences, plain English, no jargon, no rate, no payment, no closing date. End with the one thing that will move the file fastest.
The timeline
A timeline built from milestones rather than dates survives a slow appraiser. Application, disclosures signed, appraisal ordered, appraisal in, conditions issued, conditions cleared, clear to close, docs out, signing, funding, recording. Daniel sends the list with what is done marked, and the borrower stops asking.