VDT MortgageSubmission — Under ContractNew submission
Client & File
Open the loan in Hometrac — the ID is the long code in the address bar between /loans/ and /application. Pasting the whole URL is fine.
Loaded live from the team roster — drives the Hometrac assignee and the DOT push.
Type it off the ID. Don't copy what's already in the file.
Get a current ID now — this holds up closing and there's nothing anyone downstream can do about it.
Property
Start typing — pick from the list so the components come through clean.
→ Look up the AMI for this address before continuing.
Non-QM program
Not "non-QM" — the actual program you're selling.
Check it before you submit.Send Tina the client's situation and she'll point you at a program that fits. That's a short conversation now versus processing spending an hour reverse-engineering which product this was supposed to be.
Confirm with Tina whether there's an exception or a different program before this goes any further.
Pull up the address before you answer.
Almost nothing to go on here.With no listing there's no agent and no MLS record that anyone has checked the property type. Pull county records and confirm what this actually is before it goes further — a manufactured home discovered late costs weeks.
Ask it this way:"Just to confirm — the home is in decent shape? Nothing missing, no floorboards torn up, no holes in the walls or ceiling?"
Don't order the appraisal yet.If the appraiser goes out to a home that isn't ready, they come back a second time and charge another $250 on top of the $600–800 already spent — and the client pays it. Get the condition sorted first.
These two answers don't agree.You've flagged condition issues but marked the appraisal ready to order. Fix one before submitting.
Contract
Loan amount—
Down payment—
LTV—
Est. cash to close—
Buyer’s Agent
Defaults from the VDT agent answer above. Change it if that’s wrong.
Common on FSBO deals. This submits as an exception, not a block —
the closing manager will know there’s only one intro call to make.
Picking the agent fills in their cell and email.
Start typing the agent’s name and pick them from the list. That fills in their cell and email.
Pricing & Lock
Points on the LE while floating. 0 if none.
The desk locks against this — no phone call needed.
The link doesn't go out until disclosures are signed, and nothing gets ordered until it's paid. If the client sits on it for a few days you're into the contingency.
Income & Assets
Property income (DSCR)
Qualified on the property, not the borrower.No paystubs, W2s or tax returns. What underwriting needs is the rent, the payment, and proof the property covers itself.
Reserves matter on this file.At this FICO most programs need reserves to return approved. Confirm what's left after cash to close before submitting.
Tracked as an exception.This goes on the submission with the dates and your name. Chase it — nothing moves without statements.
Requested more than 72 hours ago.Nothing back yet. Follow up before submitting rather than passing the problem downstream.
Request them before you submit.Statements can be slow to come back, but asking takes a minute and it's the one part of this that's entirely in your hands. Tell the client the listing agent will want proof of funds — most of them provide it on the spot when it's framed that way.
Retirement funds
The client has to file the withdrawal themselves — and they need documents only you have.Most plans want the Loan Estimate and the purchase contract before they'll release funds. Processing doesn't take over until disclosures are signed, so both are sitting in your Hometrac file right now. Send them today.
Call them today.Plans routinely take two to three weeks and nothing starts until the client files the request. This is the single most common reason retirement money shows up late.
Required on every file — request it with the statement.
Request the longer period now rather than after underwriting asks.
Credit & account activity
Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, PayPal Pay in 4, Sezzle, Zip.
That's a lot of accounts to source.Every one gets traced on the statements. Set expectations with the client now, and tell them to stop opening new ones today.
FHA — these may hit DTI.BNPL payments can be counted against the ratio on FHA. Worth confirming the file still clears before this goes further.
Go back and ask.These surface on the asset statements either way, and each one gets sourced. Finding out now is a two-minute call; finding out in underwriting costs days.
Ask it this way, out loud:"Has a creditor ever taken you to court over a debt? Anything like a wage garnishment, a tax lien, or an old medical or credit card bill that went to collections and then to court?" Asking whether they have "judgments" gets an honest no from people who do.
Chase the proof now.Courts and creditors routinely take weeks to produce a satisfaction letter, and underwriting won't clear without it. Don't wait for the fraud report to force the issue.
Find out before the fraud report does.These show up on the report either way, usually two to five years old and in the thousands. Finding one now is a conversation. Finding one at week four moves the COE.
Credit plan
Anything the client has to do to credit before this can go approved.
Drop the credit plan PDF
Currently —.
Decide it now, not at week three.
The plan completes after COE.As written this can't work. Either the date moves or the file closes on the fallback — sort out which before submitting.
You own the follow-up on this.This isn't an approved buyer, it's a hope. Processing will track it, but chasing the client is on you — and if it stalls, you're the one flipping to the fallback.
These are checked against the call recording.Ticking something you didn't say means coming off the loan and it stays a branch deal.
Earnest money
This comes out of available funds.Cash can't be sourced, so it can't be counted toward assets. Deduct the EMD from available funds and re-check that the file still clears reserves and cash to close.
Gift EMD has to be in the AUS run.Some lower-FICO files won't return approved with gift funds. If AUS was run without it, re-run before submitting. Cleanest path is the donor wiring directly to title — otherwise you're chasing a donor statement.
Flag it before it's deposited.Tell the client now that the deposit has to be traceable — no cash. If it turns out to be a gift, we need to know before AUS runs.
Notes
Fill in under each heading. Leave one blank only if it genuinely doesn't apply.
The context, the risk, the thing you'd say if you walked it to their desk.
Documents & Verification
Buyers_Counteroffer_1.pdf · +1 more
Walk them into it while you have them.Every document request goes to a portal they've never opened. Two minutes now saves a week of a file sitting on a condition nobody knew about.