Underwriters these days expect perfection in the loan file, so it is imperative that your loan officer be meticulous and oversee every single condition and issue that might pop up from over-zealous underwriters.

Here is just one small example that occurred recently for a refinance. I have a client who is a Senior Executive for a very large corporation, and who has made a significant bonus for many years. Because the bonus makes up a pretty fair percent of the total compensation, it was needed in order to qualify.

It all came down to a form that the Human Resource Dept. of the borrower's company had to fill out, called the "Verification of Employment." There is a little box to check (Item #14) where it is asked if a bonus is likely to continue. Well, an HR assistant had the job to check the box. She didn't know the answer, so she wrote in "unknown." Wrong answer.

Because of this, the underwriter didn't accept the loan, since there was no indication, in the underwriter's eyes, that the bonus would continue. Of course it's an easy fix, if you get your hands dirty and play "detective." It's called doing what it takes to get the job done. So, we escalated the issue to the Senior Executive, who in turn escalated the issue to his Company's HR dept., and the form was filled out again, and this time everyone made sure that the person filling out the form checked that one little box correctly.

The condition will now be cleared, and we can now order docs and complete the loan. So that's the real world out there now. It comes down to checking the right box on one piece of paper that stands in the way of funding a $700K loan on time.
It's important to pay attention to those details - someone's financial well-being rides in the balance.