Yesterday I received the following question from K.S. who lives in Antelope, California. I want you to know I get this question over and over. It is one of my pet peeves because there is absolutely no reason for it to be such a frustrating reality to so many people applying for a mortgage. Here's the question:
"how long do i have to wait for underwriting???? i have been waiting week after week. he said completion review would be complete the 19th after last week he said 48 hrs .. last message he sent said he would know more on the 19th ...gr"
Answer:
The amount of time in underwriting depends on the lender, the type of loan, the issues that need to be resolved, and how saturated the market is. It can take 1 (one) week or up to 6 (six) weeks (worse case).
I don't know what the issues are on your loan or what type of loan you are qualifying for. However, your loan officer does!
Sometimes the problem of time is an issue of "when it was REALLY submitted" to the underwriters or what issues still need to be resolved. Your loan officer needs to be totally up front with you. If you don't think he is, ask to speak with his broker/manager.
I'm serious about this issue. You need FACTS! Ask exactly when it was submitted. If it has been more than two weeks, you have a right to know exactly why. Ask for documentation. No kidding. It is your loan and you are paying them a lot of money to broker it. You should demand, without being arrogant, real and true information.
Good Luck,
Connie
I found out during the conversation with K.S. that the Company she is doing business with is one of , if not the largest Lender in the US. That is too Sad. I also found out she is applying for an FHA loan and in all fairness these loans do take a little longer to close.
Like I said, this is one of my pet peeves so let me tell you why. I've been in the business for a long time and pretty much seen it all. I know that sometimes an incomplete package is submitted to underwriters. I know that there can be issues with appraisals or titles that can take time to correct or clear up. Sometimes a simple VOE will take longer than it should. Sometimes the borrower may be a little weak in some areas and the underwriter may ask for more or unusual documentation, they have the authority to do that.
I also know that sometime, more often than we like, the package just doesn't qualify under that lenders guidelines so the loan officer starts sending it out to numerous other lenders while he prays, and I mean literally prays that one of these lenders will approve it out of the kindness of their heart or that perhaps that their guidelines are not as tight. Well, we have all been there and every now and then it works, ... but at this point it is usually a lost cause, only that, ...we just can't let it go because we are heart broken for the borrower and we find ourselves in a state of denial.
If you are in the business you know that all these scenarios are reality and do take time. OK, so here is the issue I have with all this. This is why it angers me so: While all this is going on the borrower is left in the dark.
Most borrows don't understand all the steps we go through or the documentation process. But it is their loan be it a good one or not. They are paying a lot of money for this process. We owe it to them to keep them informed about any problems or issues that arise. They are part of the process. They have a right to know and if they don't understand then we must explain it so they do. Our avoidance of the issue and reluctance to inform the borrower puts them through a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety.
Borrowers, people, you and I, ... all expect to be treated with dignity and respect. We expect honesty from the people we do business with and we expect the people we are doing business with to have integrity and compassion. Pretty simple, huh? So why don't people get it right?
Borrowers have a right to know and the loan officer or company has an obligation to keep them informed.
Alright, I'm Done. I do hope I don't get this question again for at least a week!
Connie
VA Mortgage Occupancy Requirements
11 months ago
22 comments:
I did that once. A loan I had was turned down by two lenders and I felt so bad I kept sending it to other lenders. I couldn't tell the lady. She already had her stuff in boxes.
It is one year later since this post, but I am one of those Borrowers you talk about that is asking: how long do I have to wait for underwriting????
My financial situation is good, but all we are waiting for is the appraisal. and we're waiting, and waiting, and waiting. and also, we keep trying to contact the lender and it feels our package has fell into a deep dark black hold because no one responds to our emails or phone calls. it is the MOST bizarre thing. if I ran my business the way they treat their clients, my business would not exist.
Is there anyone trying to make changes in the process to at least keep the Borrowers posted as to what is going on with the process??? Or do the lenders just not care at all??
We have been in uderwriting for 6 weeks. Today is Thursday, so it looks like it will go into 7 weeks. We are going 100% Rural Development. My LO keeps telling me only that the underwriters are so overwhelmed with work that they just can't keep up. In the meantime, the only reason we are getting a new home is because ours got damaged in Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. We have been waiting 7 months. We are living with water leaks everytime it rains. Our LO has supposedly told the underwriter this but to no avail. We are just at the mercy of the underwriter who is too busy to get to approve our loan. This is the MOST frustrating thing I have ever been through. Weeks just go by with no movement. We have great creidt. Great jobs and have given the LO an abundance of documentation. He keeps telling us that nothing is wrong, but I am starting to get worried. Everyone I talk to is telling me this is ridiculous! I certainly agree. It sounds to me that the underwriting company needs to hire more people. Question--if they are so darn busy with new loans, why do I still only hear about doom and gloom on the news? Sounds to me the economy has really picked up when it takes almost 7 weeks in underwriting.
If you are getting a Guarantee rural Development Loan it could be that the lender is waiting for funding from USDA. The allocation of these funds are by Quarter and the Presidents Recovery Plan maybe causing some delays. If this is a Guarantee Loan, call your closest Area Office and talk to someone in the Guarantee Rural Housing Department. They will give you the honest info. AND, Make your loan officer call the lender to find out more information. This is your loan!
I wrote on April 16th about being in underwriting for 6 weeks. Well, the underwriter finally sent it to Rural Development and now it's been sitting there for 5 days. My lender told me it would only take 48 hours. I don't know what the hold up is this time. My lender seems to know nothing and just tells me the same thing each day, that he should get it back tomorrow and we can finally set a closing date. I've been hearing that everyday. Tomorrow never seems to come. This whole process has been absurd!! I guess I have to wait for RD for 6 weeks now? The kicker is that after it is approved in RD, it goes back to the same underwriter that took 6 weeks to look over it. She has to give the clear to close. Wonder how long that will take?
Where are you from Anonymous? I submitted my application and it just went to RD.
I am from Louisiana. I just called the rural development here in my town to find out why this was taking so long and they would not give me any information. They told me to have my lender call them since the lender was their customer. I wanted them to tell me where we were at in line since it's been 6 days in RD. My lender tells me that he calls them everyday and that they don't tell him anything. This is just ridiculous!! When I spoke to the lady that answered the phone at RD she said that it usually takes 48 hours but at the end of the month everyone is trying to close their loans and it might take longer. 6 days is a lot longer than 48 hours. I feel that I am being totally left in the dark about what is going on with this. Any suggestions?
I'm going through the exact same situation. Except I ran an FHA loan in parallel which got approved before the close date, but I didn't have the FHA listed on the contract. The USDA loan has been taking forever to go through the underwriting process and the close date has come and gone. I decided not to close with the FHA because I didn't want to come up with the down payment and my interest rate would be almost a percent higher than the USDA! I figured I wouldn't be liable since it wasn't listed on the contract. The seller was extremely frustated and said she is going to sue all parties involved because she lost the house she was set to close on in another state and had a moving company already move all her things. I want to buy the house, but it has to be with a loan I can afford and feel comfortable with. I just wish the underwriter would sign off on the thing already. He's had it for 2 weeks. It's been submitted to RD, but again they won't provide any type of timeline.
I consulted an attorney and they keep on informing to get the USDA approved asap. The thing is I've been emailing everyday been it really doesn't matter because it isnt' in my hands.
I think my situation is similar. I am in Louisiana, too. We had trouble getting approved for a mortgage at the first of the year, and finally were supposed to be approved for a usda loan to get a new doublewide and a couple acres of land. We have turned everything in that they have asked us to. We call once a week to check on it.
As of three weeks ago this coming Monday, it went into underwriting, and the loan officer said they should get everything back in a couple days. We got the same news the next week when we called. This past week when we called, they said the underwriter wanted appraisals of similar properties in the area and that they should hear back the first of this coming week.
We are so frustrated with it because we have to be out of here by July and have 4 small children. It is so hard to find a rental in our town and we have already had to ask my mom if we can stay with her in her 2 bedroom trailer in case we can't move by the time we have to be out of this rental.
I thought I would feel better knowing that other people are going through the same thing and that maybe it really does just take that long to close, but it isn't helping much.
I am just so worried that it is going to fall through and the underwriter will turn us down, then we will be back at square one, but won't have any time to try with another company or time to find a decent rental.
We had applied back on March 5. I keep saying we, but it is all in my husband's name because I have no income and no credit so they left me out of it. His credit scores are between 616 and 660, income is 49000 a year, and the mortgage amount is for 118 thousand...maybe this info would help someone to give me an idea if maybe it sounds like the scenario that anonymous posted and that was talked about in the article where we aren't really approved and they are just not wanting to tell us...
I have applied, already gone thru USDA, have my approval and clear to close. Ging on two weeks now of the mortgage company telling me "we promise you will close tomorrow" Well, tomorrow has yet to come and the title company said they have not been sent anything to close. I am at a loss. The seller is cancelling the overdated purchase aggreement next week and I have no rental home anymore. I am in a hotel room.......VERY FRUSTRATING
We are still waiting...did find out that the reason it's taking so long is because the underwriter needs more comparables. They only found one within a 10 mile radius. I got a newspaper and got online tonight and found 10 listings in a 10 mile radius that are similar in size and price. I know there are many more factors in an appraisal but if they can't find anything else, why can't they go ahead and use something similar? The ones I found that were most like ours are actually priced higher.
Anyone else having this issue with the underwriter waiting on more comps?
My loan package was just submitted to underwriting. We've submitted proof of income, the appraisal is done, and now we just wait I guess. It's a conventional loan through JP Morgan Chase with 20% down and our front-end ratio is only 21%. But, you guys are freaking me out. The house we are buying is a foreclosure home and there's a $100 per day penalty if we don't close by June 26th. I'm also worried because my loan officer is on vacation next week AND my realtor is on vacation next week and the week after. They say they have access to email, but whatever. Who's going to let me know when the underwriter wants more documentation? It's going to be a fun month!!
Just an update...we finally closed yesterday!! They called us last week and said they were ready...so we did our first closing, for the interim loan.
Supposedly, after all the delays, the lender had ended up running out of money in the interim loans department, so we were told that the company we are buying the manufactured home from would have to find us another lender. After the dealer called the lender back, they straightened it all out...not sure what was said, and don't care...all of a sudden they decided they can do the interim loan as long as the dealer can get all their stuff done with the land and improvements and get the home out there for us to move into within 30 days...we have to have our closing by July 3rd, where it turns into a regular 30 year mortgage...which is perfect for us, because we had to be out by July 15 and we were panicking about what to do.
Now, things are moving along, home is being delivered Thursday!
So, I guess every case is different. We have friends who just submitted an offer and signed a purchase agreement last week on a home, applying for a rural development loan like us, they have similar credit scores and income, and they are already in underwriting...no telling how long underwriting will take them, but everything else has gone much faster with their loan so far.
But, good luck Phil and Gretchen...oh and for your question, I know on ours, anytime the underwriter needed anything, the mortgage company let us know...just make sure if they ask for anything, get it to them asap, they may be slow about things, but at least you will know you are doing your part. Maybe the lender and underwriter you're using will be much quicker...I hate to see anyone wait like we have and the other person on here that posted about waiting several months.
Good luck!! I will keep everyone posted if for any reasons we have any delays with the second closing...it's nice to be able to hear about others' experiences, it has helped us immensely.
We applied for a FHA loan to lower our interest rate for our first and second (variable). We signed papers at the END of March and here it is June 11 and still waiting. The Underwriters wanted to get copies of taxes from IRS almost 3 weeks ago now and this is frustrating to wait. Every day is wondering if "this is the day" we will finally here. It seems less and less like a "yes" answer will be the answer as the days slowly pass. Today we start to pay .02% of loan amount because it is so late - and why are we the ones being penalized when they are the ones stil reviewing it???
I'm miserable. I can't sleep I can't eat. All I do is worry about this underwritting and I leave messages and my loan officer has not returned, she only emailed me and said the loan is in underwritting. They have cashed the check for the appriasal costs, so I assume they have scheduled it, but I get no calls or emails. it is very flusterating. I mean, I am a big girl just tell me that you don't know or that it has not approved. I'll live but at this rate, I may die in a car accident because of lack of sleep or lack of focus on the road. I wish the office was closer to my work,I would just pop by. I mean you are right we are paying them a lot of money for them to start avoiding us once the papers are signed. Besides that where is the respect?
** On a side note, my realtor is awesome. She has been in this proces with me for over a year and I just with that my loan officer was as accessible.
We applied for an FHA loan on March, got approved with in three weeks. In Arpil our house offer got accepted, we begin our closing process and were suppose to close by June 25. It's been almost two months, for the FHA staff to process our doc's. Finally last friday we signed off and are expecting to close this week, Its been just a nightmare to go through FHA, they are very slow and picky, they'll take months to process you loan and will ask you for almost evey documentation they can possibly think of.
I came to this website looking for answers. We were contacted by our bank (the one we do all of our banking with) to see if we wanted to refinance our mortgage (and combine two other loans we have - with them). This phone call came last spring, March 22, 2009 to be exact. My husband and I talked about it for the day and decided to go ahead with it. Why not, if it was going to lower our payments... what a deal! We are finacially good and were not being forced into this refinance.
Anyways, as you can see the date is now October 22, 2009 and this deal has still NOT CLOSED!! I am frustrated beyond words. Our credit is excellent (in the upper 700's).. all payments have been made on time, etc. This is outrageous. I call to inquire.. I hear, "It should be anyday now".. over and over again. I feel like getting an attorney.. How much money could of we saved over the past 7 months??? Early last spring we were told our rate was locked in at 4.5%.. so it didn't matter when we closed.. it would be that rate. Just the other day, the loan officer called and said our appraisal didn't something or other and that our rate was actaully going to be 5%.. what a scam. Our appraisal came in about $12,000 less than what was owed. Do you have any advice???
Rebeccah,
Thanks for leaving your comment.
There are a lot of variables in your scenario and I will try to address them.
I have no idea why the process would take seven months and of course it is unreasonable. It could have been appraisal issues and communication should have been better.
Refinance loans that are sold on the secondary market to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA etc are usually locked for a 30 to 60 day time period. They do have expiration dates and in most cases can be extended for a fee. The cost to extend depends on the days extended and the loan amount. It appears the loan was not locked, or was not extended.
Secondary Market mortgage rates or at least discount points are driven by the type of loan and the loan to value.
It is possible that this is an in bank type loan that is not sold on the secondary market. If that is the case, the bank would have their own underwriting and lock guidelines.
"Our appraisal came in about $12,000 less than what was owed." Since the bank is offering to make the loan over the appraised value, it appears to be an in house type loan and could be a good deal. Weigh the benefits at the new rate.
We don't give legal advice, but it most likely would just cause more stress and little benefit. I would take it up with the bank manager.
Good Luck,
Jerry B. Sanders
www.peachstatemortgage.com
Hi Jerry! It looks like I mis- quoted myself... I wanted to clarify :-) The appraisal came in $12,000 OVER what we owe. Also, I have been told all along by our mortgage guy that our rate IS locked and that they were paying the fee to keep it locked. I was told that specifically because the approx. closing date came and went last July. Back in April when I received the letter about the July closing date, I thought July was way out there... Now here I am almost into November and we are still waiting. The appraisal was done in September..
We have got loans, paid loans off for years and have NEVER been through this before. Honestly, I have NO idea what the problem is.. we are the type of client any bank wants.. bills are always paid on time, steady work, etc. Did I mention this is one of the Biggest banks nationally... one of the banks that bought up another bank when all was going south. And... we do all of our banking with them, including our loans... this is a refinance. Thanks for responding :-)
Rebeccah,
Even at $12,000 over it still appears to be a non-secondary market type loan. I am assuming the two loans you are paying off are not loans against the subject property or were not taken out to improve or buy the subject property making this a cash out refinance. Cash out refinances are currently limited to 85% of the appraised value. Below is a link to the Fannie Mae Eligibility Matrix that may be of some help. Freddie Mac is similar and FHA cash out is limited to 85% also.
https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/refmaterials/eligibility/pdf/eligibilitymatrix.pdf
I am guessing that your loan to value exceeds 85% and the bank is doing the loan non-secondary market causing the rate increase.
I hope you get it worked out.
Jerry B Sanders
www.peachstatemortgage.com
I am currently in escrow for an REO. (Original offer signed 7/28/2009- yes JULY). I am a HIGHLY motivated buyer- and have gone well above and beyond what has been asked. My file is currently in underwriting- waiting to be documented (for the past week I have been told that I should get docs to sign by tomorrow) My file went to underwriting on September 9. This is getting rediculous. I got contingent loan approval from the underwriters on Oct 5. I submitted all they needed submitted by Oct 10including additional pest inspections, paystubs and tax returns which they had already recieved, and have the appraiser go back out to the property to check out the hot water heater b/c she claimed it wasn't on the last time she went out (which it was, my realtor verified that the hot water was working). The selling bank wants to back out of the sale unless we close by the 30th. Last I heard the underwriters are trying to decide if I should get some pest spraying done now, after I sign docs or after escrow. Seriously- that's what the hold up has been for 3 days. They keep this up I will lose the house and the 2k I've already put into it between my good faith deposit and inspections.
Funny thing is that the loan is through BofA, and the selling bank is a subsidary of BofA.
Oh- and the other hold up- the underwriter who first recieved my file (BACK IN SEPT) her father was ill, so she left work for 1.5weeks- leaving my file sitting on her desk. I totally understand family stuff, but really?? Couldn't hand that file off?
Is there a point where we can do soemthing over these negligences in business practices?
Wow My situation is just as yours Miss Sharon. I too went into escrow for an REO on the same day as you, July 28,2009. I found a foreclosure that was in Great shape, just needed new Garage, finish the basement, new kitchen and some other little cosmetic things. I applied for a FHA 203k loan OMG!!! This has been THE most stressfullest(if thats even a word) time in my life!! Loan officer has been NO, NADA, ZERO help to us. He won't answer our calls, and when we do talk to him all he says is everything is looking good...?!?!?! I have had a zillion extentions, my lawyer called me today and said this is the last extention the seller will accept. My lawyer said they will either pull out of the deal or possibly charge me like $200 a day until we close.
I went into this knowing that FHA loans take a little longer, and
203ks even longer but this is ridiculous!! 90 DAYS NOW???? what the hell is going on?? 3 wks ago got approval with conditions(thought this was fianally about to end), something about appraisal, and also underwriter says i needed to use different contractor because the bid was too high for the work that was needed. But mind you i was within the limits of what the FHA consultant who THEY had come out to do the write up...which cost me $800 to do.
So I immediately, the next day, got another bid which was much lower and faxed right over. L/O claims everything was resubmited. here I am again waiting b/c it had to go back to underwriting and now its going on 3wks. I am at the end of my rope. This could very well be the reason so many foreclosures are just sitting there, cuz underwriting is taking their pretty little time.
Well I guess I shouldn't put all the blame on uw, I really think this mortgage company sucks just as well. I really wish I could pull out and go elsewhere without losing this house. $350 home inspection, $800 FHA 203k construction write up, $2000 deposit... thats alot of money to lose.
To top it off lease ended the end of june so i have been living in my parents home since july with husband and 2 kids....miserable!!
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