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Phase 2: Full Application Journey

What is the Full Application?

After pre-qualification, borrowers complete a detailed application to:

  • Provide comprehensive information for underwriting
  • Verify employment and income
  • Confirm identity
  • Upload required documents
  • Sign disclosures

Credit Impact: Hard credit pull during this phase (does affect credit score slightly)

Important: Session Continuation

Coming from Pre-Qualification borrowers coming from Pre-Qualification are already logged in. They bypass login/OTP and go straight to Step 1.

Returning to the application borrowers returning to the application must:

  • Must log in with email/password
  • Then proceed to the application, the system will automatically detect the application and continue from the last step they left off.

Full Application Step-by-Step

Full Application Steps Explained

Steps 1 & 2: Personal & Property Information

What Borrower Provides:

  • Citizenship status
  • Marital status
  • 24 months of address history (no gaps allowed)
  • Other people living at property
  • Mailing address (if different)
  • HOA fees
  • Rental income (if investment property)

Why 24 Months: Lenders need to verify stability and residence history

Step 3: Real Estate Owned (Conditional)

What Borrower Provides: Details on any other properties owned:

  • Property addresses and values
  • Existing mortgages on those properties
  • Rental income from those properties

Skip If: Borrower doesn't own other properties

Step 4: Employment History

What Borrower Provides:

  • Current employer name, address, position
  • Monthly income
  • Length of employment
  • Previous employer (if current <2 years)
  • 24 months of employment history

For Self-Employed: Additional business information required

Business Information (Self-Employed Only)

What Borrower Provides:

  • Business structure (LLC, S-Corp, etc.)
  • Business address
  • Ownership percentage
  • Tax returns (last 2 years)
  • Profit & loss statements

Step 5: Income Verification ⭐ CRITICAL STEP

Borrowers choose HOW to verify their income:

Option 1: Payroll Connection (W-2 employees)

  • Connects to employer's payroll system
  • Automatically retrieves paystubs and W-2s
  • Fastest and easiest method
  • Works with 200+ payroll providers

Option 2: Bank Account Connection

  • Links to bank account
  • Analyzes deposits to verify income
  • Good for self-employed or gig workers
  • Takes 1-3 days to analyze

Option 3: Tax Return Authorization

  • Borrower authorizes IRS transcript retrieval
  • Best for self-employed
  • E-signs form, IRS sends transcripts
  • Takes 2-5 days

Option 4: Manual Upload

  • Borrower uploads PDFs of documents
  • Paystubs, W-2s, tax returns, bank statements
  • Slowest method (requires manual review)
  • Fallback when automated methods fail

Important Shortcut: If automated verification succeeds, borrowers can skip Steps 6 & 7 and go straight to submission!

Step 6: Demographics (HMDA Compliance)

What Borrower Provides:

  • Ethnicity
  • Race
  • Gender

Important: ALL questions are optional (borrower can decline to answer)

Why We Ask: Federal law (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act) requires collecting this data for fair lending compliance

Step 7: Declarations

What Borrower Provides: Yes/no answers to:

  • Bankruptcy history
  • Outstanding lawsuits
  • Alimony/child support obligations
  • Military service status (special benefits if active duty)
  • Authorization to pull credit report

Identity Verification ⭐ FINAL GATE

What Borrower Does:

  • Takes selfie photo with phone camera
  • Scans government ID (driver's license or passport)
  • System matches face to ID photo

Why It Matters: Prevents fraud and confirms borrower is who they claim to be

Outcomes:

  • Pass: Application submitted, moves to dashboard
  • Fail: Flagged for manual review (not automatic denial)

Application Submitted Dashboard ⭐ CENTRAL HUB

After submission, borrowers see a dashboard with available actions:

Task 1: Upload Documents

  • Additional documents requested by processor
  • Examples: Bank statements, proof of insurance, explanation letters

Task 2: Complete Conditions

  • Loan conditions from underwriter
  • Examples: "Explain 60-day late payment from 2023," "Provide employment verification letter"

Task 3: Sign Disclosures

  • Electronic signature of loan documents
  • Truth in Lending disclosure
  • Home Equity Credit Agreement (HECA)

Task 4: Order Appraisal (if approved)

  • Schedule property appraisal
  • Pay appraisal fee ($400-$600)
  • Track appraisal status

Task 5: Set Up Disbursement (near closing)

  • Specify how loan funds should be distributed
  • Payoff instructions for existing loans
  • Cash to borrower details

Task 6: Check Status

  • View application timeline
  • See current stage
  • Next steps