We had a sub-prime lender up in Canada request documents and information the day after the deal closed! The required so much info that our lawyers, pretty famous author in real estate, spoke about it at a conference. He called it a "tale from the trench" It felt like war!

I had a very similar experience occur at a closing over a month ago. It was a nightmare from day one. We even had the president from the company involved a month before closing because of all the last minute changes. At closing, we were informed by the underwriter (who seemed to change several times during the ordeal) needed other information. It took three more days to close. I don't know why it can be like this. It should never happen in the first place.

I have one particular lender that I know this kind of stuff never happens with.  I try to get all my buyers with her.  I get frustrated with this kind of stuff on the listing side.  I have one right now that was supposed to have closed on April 30th and we are still trying to get it closed.  Closing is set for the 15th now.  The lender begged us to give them more time.  I sure hope I don't end up with egg on my face.  I have trouble not taking it personally when they don't close although we can only go on the information they give us.

That's why Jacqui uses the same lender and title person no matter what company they are currently working for. -Charles

Same song, different verse. When you find a competent professional, use them. I don't give second chances to impress me.

This is why its important to have a lender who a) has loads of purchase transaction experience and b) is reliable and can deliver on what they say.  What I've found is that a lot of "newer" lenders have primarily refinance experience where timelines are not as important in purchases.  So they are not accustomed to closing on a particular date (unless that date happens to be the end of the month).  Not working against a deadline leads to sloppiness and a "get to it later" attitude in clearing conditions.  Additionally, some originators just promise the world to get your referral and cross their fingers that they can close it on time. 

It is also favorable to have escrow, title and the loan officer comfortable with one another from previous transactions so that all parts work smoothly together. Like Gary above said "When you find a competent professional, use them."

In this particular instance the employment gap is something that should have been resolved numerous ways.  First, the processor should have asked for supporting documentation for the 1003 information and reviewed if for continuous employment.  This could be done from pay-stubs, VOE's, review of credit, anything to ensure that the guidelines of the loan are being met. This would have solved any problems up front.  Second, the processor should have had the loan underwritten as soon as the application was in, as the underwriter would have conditioned for that early on (hopefully). Third, when the gap in employment did come up at the last minute a competent processor and/or originator would know to quickly get a letter of explanation about the gap and work with the underwriter to get the condition cleared quickly. 

I would ask any originator to identify the number of purchase transactions they have handled in the last 12 months, if it's fewer than 12 I would recommend to the borrower to get a competing offer from someone with more purchase experience on the lending side.