How to ask borrowers for loan conditions
The lender's condition sheet is written for the lending team. It uses shorthand, groups items by underwriting stage and often includes tasks that belong to the title company or to your own processor. A borrower who receives it unedited sees a wall of jargon and replies with questions, or with the wrong documents. A good request tells the borrower what to send, why, and by when, and nothing else.
This guide shows how to write that request. It assumes you are a processor or loan officer who already has the sheet in hand.
Start by removing what is not the borrower's
Before you write a word, go through the sheet and cross out everything the borrower does not do:
- Items for the title or escrow company, such as the title commitment.
- Items for your own shop, such as a credit supplement or a corrected field in the application.
- Items for third parties, such as an appraiser's corrections, unless the borrower must chase them.
What remains is the borrower's list. If it is short, say so. A borrower who sees "four items" is more likely to start than one who sees twenty.
Translate each item into a plain ask
For every item on the borrower's list, write one sentence that says what to send, in the borrower's language. A reliable pattern is:
Please send [exact document], covering [period or detail], by [date]. We need it because [short reason].
Some examples of the pattern:
| Sheet wording | Plain request |
|---|---|
| Two months of consecutive bank statements, all pages | Please send your last two months of bank statements for the account named on the sheet, every page including blank ones. |
| LOE for employment gap | Please write a short note explaining the gap in your work history between the dates shown. A few sentences is enough. |
| Source of large deposit, $4,250 on 03/14 | Please send a document that shows where the $4,250 deposit on 03/14 came from, for example a statement from the account the money came from. |
| Gift letter | Please have the person giving the gift sign a letter stating the amount and that it does not need to be repaid. Ask us if you need the lender's form. |
The point of the second column is not to be casual. It is to make the request impossible to misread.
Copy amounts and dates exactly
A borrower request that changes an amount or a date creates a new problem. If the sheet says $4,250 on 03/14, the request must say $4,250 on 03/14. Do not round, and do not write "recently". Read each figure in your request against the sheet before you send it.
A checklist for the finished request
Before you send, check that the message:
- Contains only the borrower's items.
- Gives each item as a single clear action.
- States the amount, date or period exactly as the sheet shows it.
- Gives one deadline per item, or one for the whole list, and explains why it matters. If a lock is close, say how many days are left. See tracking lock dates.
- Says how to send things: one reply, one upload link or one named person to contact.
- Does not promise a result the lender has not given you.
What to avoid
- Underwriting jargon such as "prior to docs" or "PTF" without a plain explanation. If the stage matters, say "we need this before the closing documents can be prepared". The meaning of each stage is explained in prior to docs and prior to funding conditions.
- Legal or financial advice. If a borrower asks whether a deposit is acceptable or how a gift should be handled for tax, say you can only pass on what the lender asks for, and suggest they check with their accountant or adviser.
- Threats. Giving the reason for the date works better than warning about what could go wrong.
- Several messages with different lists. Keep one running list and resend it with the finished items marked.
How to follow up
Borrowers are busy and often do not know why a document matters. A follow-up works best when it does three things: shows what has arrived, lists what is still open and repeats the date that matters. Keep the tone the same on the third message as the first.
Keep a record of what you asked, when, and what came back. If the underwriter later asks what was requested, you can answer from your own notes without searching your mailbox.
How ConditionPilot does this step
ConditionPilot writes a borrower draft for every loan file with a borrower condition ready to ask for, all in one Word file. The asks are written in plain English from the conditions tagged as the borrower's, and items tagged to the title company or to your own shop are left out. The model is told to copy amounts and dates exactly, and code then compares every dollar amount and date in each ask with the lender's quoted condition. An ask that changes, adds or leaves out one is held back from the draft and listed for you to write yourself. Code does not compare other numbers, such as a count of days or months, so read those against the sheet.
The draft is only a draft. It leaves the borrower's name and the reply date for you to fill in, and nothing is sent for you: you edit the Word file and send it yourself. ConditionPilot does not match borrower documents to conditions yet. Each loan file costs 6 credits, and you can sign up and try an invented file first.
Questions
- Should I forward the lender's condition sheet to the borrower?
- Usually no. The sheet is written for the lending team, mixes in items for others and uses jargon. A short request containing only the borrower's items works better.
- How often should I follow up on missing conditions?
- There is no fixed rule. Tie the follow-up to the nearest date that matters, the lock expiry or the closing date, and tell the borrower the reason for the deadline.
- What if the borrower sends the wrong document?
- Reply with what was received, what is still needed and what is wrong with the file, for example a missing page. Keep the same list so the borrower sees progress.
See which lock runs out first.
Sign in, upload your condition sheets, download the ranked queue.