Required documentation?

[Phitor]

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere (I checked the stickies but didn't see anything jump out)

Lender shopping time is quickly approaching in the next four months, and we were going to start idiot proof binders with tabs separating the necessary documents lenders would be interested in. Any advice on a list of required documentation? I.e., recent credit reports, past tax returns (how many years?), paystubs (how many months?), proof of rent (what counts as proof, how many months?), etc.

Thanks...

[JMN]

I work for a bank that is one of the largest home mortgage lenders in the nation, and I'm also in the process of getting a loan through them. From my experience:

- Credit reports will be obtained by the lender, not something you usually need to provide yourself. *

- Usually lenders, if requesting tax returns, will request two years. Most larger lenders, however, will usually request electronic versions via form 4506-T. *

- Usually two recent (last 45 days) pay stubs. *

- Two years of W-2s. *

- Never seen my employer ask for proof rent, nor was I asked for it. YMMV.

- Source of downpayment. *

- Most recent bank statements. *

- Assets (401k, investments, etc). *

* denotes that this is how the loan that I'm getting for myself was/is being processed.

Once underwriting begins, you may be requested to fill out a Letter of Explanation - this could be in regards to any lates, inquiries, or other findings on your credit report, if you have anything.

Beyond that, usually the lender you're working with will give you docs to fill out, etc, but they will direct you as to what's needed in regards to that.

Hope this helps.

[Phitor]

Thank you, that was very helpful.

As for the proof of rent payment, I was just going by what I had read elsewhere on here - that proof of good rent payment history was required, and that a note from your landlord was not sufficient unless it was a professional entity, because the person writing the note could be anyone. Our landlord for the past 3 years has been a person, so if they didn't accept a validation note from him, I wasn't sure what the "proof" would be.

As for the source of downpayment, is this just an account statement with the downpayment balance available? And the associated information accompanying any transfers and liquidations that helped that particular balance accumulate? (excluding regular salary)

[doublespaces]

I think I may be the one you are referring to regarding the rent.

I can say for SURE that my lender asked me for proof of rent payment because I was a first time home buyer(FHA). They will only accept something provable like the stubs from your cashiers checks, print outs of the checks clearing, something like that. Without this proof, I had to go into review one more time.

[JMN]

@Phitor wrote:

Thank you, that was very helpful.

As for the proof of rent payment, I was just going by what I had read elsewhere on here - that proof of good rent payment history was required, and that a note from your landlord was not sufficient unless it was a professional entity, because the person writing the note could be anyone. Our landlord for the past 3 years has been a person, so if they didn't accept a validation note from him, I wasn't sure what the "proof" would be.

As for the source of downpayment, is this just an account statement with the downpayment balance available? And the associated information accompanying any transfers and liquidations that helped that particular balance accumulate? (excluding regular salary)

---

Not a problem. I'm glad to be of assistance.

As for proof of rent, as noted, my employer doesn't ask regular applicants nor did they ask me for my loan, so it's really your miles may vary. I've never seen/heard any of the big five ask for it, but it could very well be case-by-case.

As for the source of downpayment - in my experience on the job, it's only been an account statement of where you intend to draw from for the downpayment. I've never had anyone need to verify the source of the funds that were going into the source for downpayment (try saying that five times fast).

Again, though, your miles may vary with each lender.