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Many Declined Loans Are Due to Inexperienced Loan Officers
In My Experience...
Not all lenders will follow Fannie Mae guidelines word for word. Fannie Mae guidelines can be vague many times and leave the final decision to the lenders underwriter.
In cases where the lender chooses to impose a more strict guideline that what Fannie Mae might allow is called an "Overlay". An overlay can mean that something requires an exception, increased fee or tightening of a an underwriting guideline.
Different lenders do treat student loans differently. An inexperienced loan officer will also limit your access to your options.
If you're here because you've heard "NO", you're in the right place. You're among friends. Shoot us an question about your situation and we'll give you the right answer.
In most cases, I'll know an expert that has experience with your situation and can help!
Scott Schang
Founder, FMWH
FAQ's About Why a Loan Approval Can Change
This is one of the most common questions here at Find My Way Home, and one that comes with more questions usually.
Automated Underwriting Systems are simply a computer risk model that assesses all of the information input into your loan application.
It is not uncommon for inexperienced loan officers to input only enough information to get a loan Approval, only to find out later that there is a problem.
Almost all of the situations we see where there is an underwriting issue, it's usually because the loan officer didn't ask the right questions during the application process.
An experienced loan officer knows how Automated Underwriting Systems work, and know how to read the findings once a decision is delivered.
Working with an experienced loan officer will help reduce surprises later in the process!
It is incredibly rare that a change in underwriting guidelines will affect an approval you currently have. Most underwriting changes are announced, with a long grace period before the change is implemented, then only required for loans run using the updated underwriting system.
This "excuse" being given as the reason why you no longer are approved is usually a cover up for the fact that they never had you approved in the first place.
Unfortunately, I've seen this excuse a lot. Fortunately, there's usually something we can do to save the deal.
What is not rare is that an inexperienced loan officer did not know what they were looking at on your application, credit and public records, and most likely missed something that was fatal to the way they put your loan together.
Depending on the magnitude of the screw up by the other loan officer, you may or may not still qualify for what your originally thought was your budget.
An experienced loan officer can help you understand all of your options, and how, if possible, you can get into an even better position to qualify for a higher mortgage with a little planning.
It's important to understand that it can be a gamble applying for a home mortgage unless you have a great referral from someone close that you trust.
The reason why this website is what it is today is because lenders and loan officers that are not educated in updated underwriting guidelines tell folks all the time that they do not qualify for a mortgage. The truth is...they don't know how to get it done.
I know that's a scary thought, but your ability to qualify for a mortgage can literally lie in the experience level of the loan officer that is taking your information to the underwriter for an approval.
So many problems can be avoided by working with a professional loan officer that has made a career of helping folks make informed financial decisions about their mortgage.