Hey all,
I have a friend who's girlfriend is an mortgage underwriter. I asked him what exactly she does and even he does not know. I'd like to know the general idea of what she does in case it comes up when I meet her.

Thanks!

A mortgage underwriter's job is to review the borrower's loan application and documents (paystubs, W2s, bank statements, etc.) to make certain they comply with the lender's or FNMA's/Freddie Mac's underwriting guidelines. Think of them as an auditer in a sense.

Damon Di Placido
Wachovia Mortgage
damon.diplacido@wachovia.com

An underwriter determines front and back end DTI, Payment Shock & Assets. They also have extensive knowledge of tax returns for S-Corps, Self Employed, etc., Appraisal Review, Title Review, Risk Analysis, Due Diligence, Fraud Determination/Prevention, Clear Tangible Net Benefit to consumer. FHA/VA guidelines, Fannie/Freddie Underwriting Guidelines, DU/LP, Credit Review, Data Entry, Common Sense (not always), PTD Condition, PTC condition & PTF condition. File comes back when PTD's come in, conditions cleared, file sent to closing department.

A mortgage underwriter is the guy that say's "oh yeah send me that loan its definately our deal"..then two days before closing he calls and says'Oh my boss says we dont do these anymore.'

HA!

to break all of that down up there in a nutshell, the job of an underwriting is to assess risk and determine profitability of a loan once the loan is funded.

most lenders sell their loans in pools, or as mortgage-backed securities. also known as CDOs (collateralized debt obligations). sometimes they go to fannie or freddie, and sometimes they just go to large securities holders.

there's a lot of crap that gets submitted to lenders every day. the UW dept. has the job of sorting out all the crap and making sure of loan profitability be it in a portfolio or being sold.

there are also back shop underwriters. these guys do quick reviews of files to make sure everything is in order. this takes place after funding right before the loan is sold. some loans are maintained in a portfolio and serviced for a period of time, but for fast selling, the idea is to dump the loan after receiving 1 payment from the borrower. loans that receive 1 payment are worth more than loans that have not.

after given the OK, the loan is sold to a holder and the servicing is usually retained by a loan servicer who has no ownership of the loan whatsoever.

so i guess it really depends if your friend is a front shop or back shop underwriter. their jobs are very different.

The underwriter is the imaginary person in a loan company that the loan officers blame for anything that goes wrong or if they need to stall....
..."Let me check with my underwriter, or My underwriter is questioning your income".

In reality, the are the "auditors" that validate all the information and guidelines in the loan file.

I don't know Let me check with my Underwriter on that one. (+=

They like flowers.