Manual underwriting fha loan

[Kcstreetracer]

Hello,

We have applied for a mortgage loan with a mortgage broker on August 28th. Here we are 11/9 and have yet to get this done. The mortgage broker keeps talking about the "complexity" of our file. To me, it is not complex. I am a 620 with steady work history, she is 604 with a steady work history at one company for 9 yrs but covid messed that up, and has since had 2 more jobs. He says that her unstable work history has made it hard to get approved. The guy is very vague, and I feel like there is almost some discrimination being done. Our scores are high enough, we make more than enough money to qualify, dti is under 20%. How long should a manual underwriting take for a fha loan?

[MortgageMama]

Seems a bit too long in process. It's true that FHA doesn't like frequent job changes, but covid really hurt some people and they addressed that in their Mortgagee Letter 2022-09  Mortgagee Letter 2022-09 <= Hopefully that link works. This gave lenders guidance on how to handle calculating income after covid related job loss. Have you been asked to provide a letter of explanation regarding the job changes? . If/when asked to provide an explanation, make sure the letter is super detailed as to the events, complete with specific dates, all circumstances pertaining to job decisions, and don't hesitate to include the personal elements as to how it affected your life. Think of it as speaking directly to the underwriter.