If you have lived at your current address less than 2 years, be prepared to furnish former addresses for up to seven years. You will also be asked to detail your current housing expenses, including rent or mortgage payments, real estate taxes and insurance (your mortgage payment may include tax and insurance funds).

You will need the name and address of your landlord(s) or mortgage lender(s) for the past two years.

• At least two years employment history with employer's name and address, your job title or position, length of time on the job, salary, bonuses, commissions and average overtime pay.
• Recent paycheck stubs and Federal W-2 forms for two years (some lenders may require full Federal tax returns).
• Records of dividends and interest received from investments.
• If you are self-employed, full tax returns and financial statements for 2 years, plus a profit and loss statement for the current year to date.
• A written explanation if there are gaps in your employment record, because of circumstances such as illness,  layoffs, or for any other reason.

The loan officer may have you sign a Verification of Employment (VOE) form. This will be sent to your employer to verify your employment and earnings. One will be sent to previous employers if you have been on the job less than two years.

Many lenders now use a general authorization form which allows them to verify employment and other financial information on the application.

If you are relying on income from other sources, such as rental property, social security or disability payments, child support, etc., you must provide adequate proof of the source. Appropriate documents could include canceled checks, copies of leases, certification of benefits, divorce decrees and similar evidence.

Personal Assets

A detailed listing of your personal assets is required on the loan application form. You will need to have the following information available to complete the form:

• All bank accounts, both checking and savings, and money market accounts, with the name and address of the institution, name(s) on the accounts, account numbers and current account balances.
• Recent bank statements for at least two months.
• Current market value of stocks, bonds, CDs and other investments.
• Vested interest in all retirement funds.
• Face amount and cash value of life insurance policies in for
• Make, model, year and value of automobiles owned.
• Address and market value of all real estate owned along with the amount of rents collected, the mortgage on the property and the monthly mortgage payments (a profit and loss statement will be required for investment properties).
• Value of other personal property such as furniture.

As with the Verification of Employment, the loan officer will have you sign Verifications of Deposit (VOD) for each of the institutions (or a general authorization) where you have savings or checking accounts. Differences between  account balances reported by the institution and  balances you provided on the loan application have to be reconciled. Be sure you have  correct current balances.

The lender will look for the source of funds with which you will make the down payment and pay closing costs and fees. Gifts from a relative, church, municipality or non-profit organization may sometimes be used, but must be verified in writing. If you are providing less than 5 percent of the sales price, the donor must be a relative and must provide a letter stating the donor's relationship to you, the amount of the gift and the fact that no repayment is expected.

Personal Indebtedness

You will be asked to itemize all your current bills, loans and other debts, including current balances and monthly payments. Debts include automobile loans, credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard and other retail store accounts, finance company, bank and credit union loans and existing mortgages, including home equity loans. You should be able to give the account or loan number, the monthly payment, the number of payments remaining and the outstanding balance.

The information you provide on the loan application will later be verified by a credit report requested by the lender. As with employment and deposit information, differences between your figures and those on the credit report will raise questions and may delay the approval of your loan. It is to your advantage to have data correct, right prior to filling out the loan application.

If you have had credit problems, you should inform the lender. Lenders recognize that unemployment, illness, marital problems or other financial difficulties can temporarily impair your credit rating. Provide a written explanation of the circumstances regarding the problem to be included with the loan application.

The lender must consider such a written explanation as part of the underwriting analysis. If the problem has been corrected and your payments have been made on time for a year or more, your credit will probably be judged as satisfactory. Chronic late payments, judgments or loan defaults, however, severely damage your credit standing and may prevent you from obtaining the financing you need to complete the purchase.

If you have been through bankruptcy or foreclosure proceedings within the past seven years, be prepared to give full details and copies of applicable documents regarding them.

You will also be asked to explain the details if you are obligated to pay alimony, child support or separate maintenance. Such obligations are treated like debt payments by most lenders and will be part of the underwriting analysis.

Additional Information

You will be asked to sign a section of the loan application which contains your certification that the information you have provided is correct to the best of your knowledge; your promise to advise the lender of any material changes in the information and your consent to (1) verification of the application data, (2) submission of account history to credit reporting agencies, and (3) transfer of the loan or loan servicing to successors to the original lender.

The last part of the application requests information on the race and gender of the applicants. The Federal Government uses this data to monitor lenders' compliance with fair housing and equal credit opportunity laws. Providing this information is strictly on your part and has no effect on your loan application. The lender, however, is required by federal law to request the information. Under Federal Regulations, this lender is required to note race and sex on the basis of physical observation or surname.

Because of the particular circumstances surrounding a loan application, the lender may require additional information or documentation regarding you or the property after the application has been submitted for approval. Loan officers make every effort to collect all data at the outset, but cannot foresee every eventuality. Requests for additional information are not necessarily bad omens and your primary concern should be in responding promptly with the information.

Based on the  application, the loan officer may be able to pre-qualify you, but cannot approve the loan. That is done by the lender's underwriters after all documents and information have been received and verified.

After The Loan Application - What Next?

After the loan application has been completed, it will be forwarded to the lender's loan processing department and then to an underwriter, where the decision to approve or reject the loan will be made. Loan processors send out Verifications of Employment and Deposit and order the credit report, property appraisal and other documents. The time it takes to receive these documents affects the length of time required for approval of the loan. If you are transferring from out of the local community, it may take longer to receive the credit and employment information. Processing times vary from one lender to another, but the loan officer should be able to give an idea of the processing time for your application.