YES I NEED ALL THE PAGES OF YOUR ASSETS. One of the hardest thing to get from borrowers is a copy of their bank statement. Why is this?
When I gather information for a loan application and I request a copy of the last bank statement or 401K statement to prove the assets. I usually get one of the following:
One page with the balance on it. (Hm-mm where did the money come from?)
One or more pages that have no reference to the borrower's name or account number (Hm-mm, is this your account?)
A printout on plain paper from the bank with no name, account number or the bank name. (Hm-mm, could be anyone's money at any bank)
This is perfectly understandable IF I did not go through the following discussion. After all the borrower is not an underwriter, so how do they know what I need?
I'm very specific when I ask to document assets. Here is my spiel: I need a copy of your last bank or 401K statement; I need all the pages even if there are 15 of them. If you do not get your bank statements by mail, I can accept an online printout - it needs to have your name on it, must cover 30 days history, showing everything in and out and at a minimum a truncated account number. If you do not get your statement mailed or have the ability to print one online, then there is another method of going to the bank to get it, but there is a process, so let me know if we need to do this.
As loan originators we are charged with determining that a borrower has the assets to close, that we have accurate information as to where they got those assets, that those assets are legal. If assets are borrowed or gifted that is OK in some circumstances they just need to be documented that way. If it is a gift then it would not need to be repaid, if it is borrowed it would, thus impacting the debt ratio and borrowed assets may not be used in all circumstances.
The best practice to avoid a last minute problem when assets cannot be documented is to sit down with a loan originator before writing a contract to purchase a property.
Dora Ann Griffin, 6380
D A Griffin Financial. LLC
Comments(3)