Have our pre approved letter, do we need to give tax returns, w2s, pay studs, or social security #?

Profile picture for DragonDaughter1987
My husband and I got pre-approved for a residential first mortgage. Now we are getting a letter through email from the loan officer saying we need to give out 2008-2009 tax returns, 2008-2009 w2s, 2-3 recent pay stubs, and id and social security cards? I have never heard of having to give this info before of course this is the first time we have ever thought of buying a house either? Can anyone help with whether this is true or not? Thank you!!
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April 16 2010 - Northfield
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Answers (15)

Profile picture for Keith Manson
It sounds like you were pre qualified by the lender,projecting what you can afford given verbal information.  A prequailification just is a guess what the lender will loan.  To get pre approved you need to provide all the documentation of what you have provided verbally.  A pre-approval means the bank will loan you the money and a pre qualification means that the bank will consider providing you a loan.

Keith Manson
First Weber Group
Certified Distressed Property Expert
Metro Milwaukee

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April 25 2010
Profile picture for mjohnson46

I would say the most basic advice is to NEVER provide information in response to an email solicitation.

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April 25 2010

If you have not provided your income to your loan officer your pre-approval has about as much value as the paper it is written on.  Providing a pre-approval without income verification may have been a common practice in the past however underwriting guidlines are far less lenient now.  Every buyer that I work with I submit the income to underwriting for a income assessment.  In this market it is better to be safe than sorry.  

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April 24 2010
Profile picture for toddmills
Bring all the documentation that your lender is asking for.  A pre-approval is only a single step in the loan process.  The Lender has to collect and verify all of your financial information in order to issue a final loan approval.
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April 24 2010
Profile picture for funds2
Gary,
Most lenders will not issue a pre-approval letter, nor should they, without documentation that verifies income, assets,employment data, and a credit report plus an automated underwriting approval. Giving a prospect a pre approval letter with anything less is worthless, and as this thread proves can lead to problems for buyers, sellers, and Agents.
The only thing that is more worthless is a pre-qualification letter.
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April 17 2010
Profile picture for wetdawgs
If your debt to income level is too high, you will have problems being approved.

The (up to) $8000 tax credit in most cases can only be claimed after one has purchased a home and filed the paper work.   A few lenders may offer you a short term loan on this one.

Do not panic if you can not purchase a house immediately, because house prices have not stabilized.  Waiting a year or two is likely to mean you will save even more than the $8,000 because of decreasing home values.

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April 17 2010
Profile picture for FirstSouth

Your Loan Officer is providing you with a list of documents required to process your mortgage loan.  Until you have a contract to purchase you really don't need to provide these documents.  Remember your pre-approval will be subject to verifying the information you provided on the application.

Have a great day!

Kristen Johnson

FirstSouth Mortgage

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April 17 2010
Iwas told my scores are good but pay off my creditcards.becauseof my debt to ratio my income is SSI i do have somemoneysaved  iwas also told have to use my money for the house whatabout the 8.000dollarstaxmoney?   cant i get approverd 
with outpaying off my cards or can icombind thecards.
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April 17 2010
Profile picture for GlennPalm
Beverlyshorter - I have a program that will allow you to use the $8K in the purchase transaction.  The program allows eligible first-time homebuyers to convert the $8,000 federal homebuyer tax credit into a second mortgage loan at loan closing, rather than waiting until filing their income taxes to receive the credit. If the tax credit loan is repaid by June 1, 2011, no interest is charged. Otherwise, the loan is amortized over 10 years at the same interest rate as the first mortgage. Contact me if you would like to discuss this in more detail.  Thx. GP
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April 16 2010
Profile picture for beverlyshorter

I went to a homeprepurchasing yesterday.Iwas told my scores are good but pay off my creditcards.becauseof my debt to ratio my income is SSI i do have somemoneysaved  iwas also told have to use my money for the house whatabout the 8.000dollarstaxmoney?   cant i get approverd 
with outpaying off my cards or can icombind thecards.it is only 16 days leftbeforethe taxcredit is over i dont know what to do  pleasehelp

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April 16 2010
Profile picture for wetdawgs
It sounds like you had a rough evaluation from what you claimed for pre-approval.  If you actually wish to go forward to get a mortgage, tax returns, pay stubs, W-2s, social security etc are standard parts of applying for a loan.    Otherwise, how would they know that you actually earned what you said you earned?  (No documentation loans were called "liar loans" and went by the wayside two or three years ago, thank goodness).
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April 16 2010
Profile picture for GlennPalm
You were "pre-qualified", not truly pre-approved.  Pre-Qualified is simply when a potential borrower talks to a Loan Officer (LO) and discusses your numbers as it relates to getting a loan (income, assets, etc.)  This is useful for someone "thinking of buying a house, but is unsure of their timeline". 

A pre-approval is the act of taking a step further and actually pulling your credit (after a signed authorization) then providing them supporting documentation to your income, assets, etc.  Then they will run your file through automated underwriting engines called DU (fannie mae) or LP (freddie mac).  The findings from these underwriting engines will provide the lender the "roadmap to funding your loan" aka a checklist of documentation needed to fund the loan. 

With all of the changes in our industry - a full pre-approval is needed to shop for a home with confidence.  Gone are the days of easy lending.  All i's are dotted and t's are crossed now. 

Good Luck!

GP
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April 16 2010
Profile picture for Justin Kennedy
cart before the horse, I would be very lerry of lender that issued a pre-approval without the documention.
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April 16 2010
Profile picture for Gary Sells Money
Most lenders will pre-approve based on obtaining your FICO credit score and asking you what your income is gross per month if you are W-2. Once you have found a home and want to proceed to actually putting in an application you would then be required to provide all the documentation you indicated and more in order for the file to move to underwriting. Most Realtors will not show you homes unless you are pre-approved.
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April 16 2010
Profile picture for smbelaen
We had to do it even before we could go look at houses.
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April 16 2010
 

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