Understanding Loan Status: A Complete Guide

Overview

Every loan application in the portal moves through a series of stages and statuses from initial intake through final funding. Understanding what each status means helps your team take the right action at the right time and keeps borrowers informed throughout the process.

This guide covers all stages in the loan lifecycle: Intake, Application, Underwriting, Approval, Closing, Funded, and Inactive. Each section explains what the statuses mean and what, if any, action is required from your team or the borrower.

Loan Pipeline at a Glance

Stage	Description
Intake	Borrower completes the pre-qualification flow, including property info, income, and soft credit consent.
Application	Full loan application is submitted with income, identity, and disbursement details.
Underwriting	Loan is reviewed by an underwriter for verified income, credit, assets, and property.
Approval	Loan is approved and cleared for closing.
Closing	Closing documents are prepared and signed by the borrower.
Funded	Loan has funded and wire has been sent.
Inactive	Loan has been withdrawn, denied, expired, or archived.

Stage 1: Intake

The Intake stage covers everything from the moment a loan file is created through the borrower accepting a pre-qualified offer. Automated services run in the background at multiple points to validate eligibility, credit, and pricing.

Status	What It Means
Pre-Qual Started	The borrower has begun the application but has not yet completed all required sections. The file is active and awaiting borrower progress.
Property Info	The borrower is entering property details. Home value estimates and eligibility checks will run automatically once this section is complete.
NMLS Check: Pass	Compliance checks for the loan officer and company have passed for the subject property state. The loan can proceed.
NMLS License Fail	A compliance validation check found that the loan officer or company is not licensed in the subject property state. This must be resolved before the loan can move forward. Review the details in the portal and contact your compliance team.
Income Info	The borrower's income section is incomplete. Full income data is required to calculate debt-to-income ratio and determine eligibility.
Soft Credit Consent	The borrower has not yet completed the soft credit consent step. This must be accepted before a soft credit pull can be initiated.
Soft Credit Pull Completed	A soft credit pull has been completed successfully. The result is available in the loan file for review.
Credit Frozen	The borrower's credit file is frozen. The borrower must unfreeze their credit and retry the soft pull before the loan can proceed.
No Credit Profile Found	No credit profile was found for the borrower. The borrower should verify their Social Security Number, date of birth, and address on file, then retry the credit pull.
Mortgage Select	The borrower is reviewing and certifying the subject property liens based on credit tradelines. Action is required from the borrower to proceed.
Automated Services Running	Required third-party services are being ordered in the background to determine eligibility and pricing. This includes property valuation, pricing engine evaluation, employment verification, and identity checks. No action is required while this status is active.
Pending Offer Acceptance	The borrower has received a pre-qualified loan offer and is reviewing it. The borrower will see their proposed loan amount, rate, term, origination fee, and any applicable autopay discount. Awaiting borrower acceptance.
Offer Accepted	The borrower has reviewed and accepted the pre-qualified loan offer. The loan now moves to the Application stage for full application completion.

⚠️ Action Required: If the loan is in Credit Frozen or No Credit Profile Found status, the borrower must take direct action to resolve the issue before the file can advance.

📌 Note: During the Automated Services Running status, an automated property valuation, pricing evaluation, employment history check, and identity verification are all processed. The loan will not advance until all services return a result.

Stage 2: Application

Once the borrower accepts their pre-qualified offer, they move into the full Application stage. This involves completing several sections of the formal loan application. The loan is officially submitted once all sections are complete, triggering a series of automated services.

Status	What It Means
Other Info	The borrower is completing supplemental information required for the full application.
Real Estate Owned	The borrower is entering details about any real estate they currently own.
Income Verification	The borrower is providing full income documentation for verification.
Identity Verification	The borrower is completing identity verification as required for application submission.
Disbursement Account Verification	The borrower is linking and verifying the bank account where loan funds will be deposited upon funding.
Declarations & Demographics	The borrower is completing the declarations and demographic information sections required for a formal loan application.
Application Submitted	The application has been formally submitted and locked for underwriting review. At this point, a hard credit pull is run, initial disclosures are generated, the loan is submitted to the loan origination system, a title search is ordered, and the rate is locked.
Complete Required Conditions	Additional documentation or clarification is required before underwriting can begin. The loan team should review the outstanding conditions and work with the borrower to satisfy them.
Borrower to Sign Disclosures	Initial disclosures have been sent to the borrower for electronic signature. The portal will show the signature status for each borrower on the loan. All borrowers must sign before the loan advances to underwriting.

⚠️ Action Required: When the status is Borrower to Sign Disclosures, verify the signature status for all borrowers in the portal. A loan cannot move to underwriting until all signatures are collected.

Stage 3: Underwriting

During underwriting, a licensed underwriter reviews the complete loan file, including verified income, assets, credit, and property information, to make a credit decision.

Status	What It Means
Underwriting Review	The underwriter is actively reviewing the loan file. No action is required from the loan team unless conditions are issued.
Additional Conditions Required	The underwriter has reviewed the file and requires additional documentation or clarification before a final decision can be made. Review the outstanding conditions in the portal and work with the borrower to satisfy them promptly.
Updated Offer Pending Acceptance	After reviewing verified information, the underwriter has determined that the loan terms must be adjusted. A revised offer has been sent to the borrower for review and acceptance. The loan team should consult with the borrower on the updated terms and request acceptance to move forward.
Resubmitted to Underwriting	Conditions have been addressed and the file has been resubmitted for underwriter review. Awaiting the underwriter's response.

📌 Note: If the status is Updated Offer Pending Acceptance, the loan team should proactively reach out to the borrower to explain the updated terms and encourage timely acceptance to avoid delays.

Stage 4: Approval

✅ Milestone: The loan has been approved and cleared to move to closing. Email notifications are automatically sent to all relevant parties.

Once a loan reaches Approval status, the loan team should prepare for the closing phase. No further underwriting conditions are outstanding at this point.

Stage 5: Closing

The Closing stage covers preparation and execution of closing documents. The borrower must sign the Closing Disclosure and, separately, the Deed of Trust. The signing process varies depending on whether the loan uses electronic notarization or in-person signing.

Status	What It Means
Preparing Closing Docs	The Closing Disclosure is being prepared. No action is required from the loan team at this point.
Borrower eSign Closing Disclosure	The Closing Disclosure has been sent to the borrower for electronic signature. The borrower must sign this document before the deed signing can be scheduled.
Borrower Sign Deed with Notary	The borrower must complete the deed signing, either through remote online notarization (electronic) or by scheduling an in-person appointment with a notary. The borrower should log into the portal to complete this task.
Right of Rescission	A mandatory 3-business-day rescission period is in effect. This applies to primary residence transactions only. The loan cannot fund until this period expires. No action is required from the loan team during this window.
Funded	The loan has successfully funded. The wire has been sent to the borrower's verified disbursement account.

📌 Note: The Right of Rescission period applies only to loans secured by a primary residence. Investment property and second home transactions do not have a rescission period.

For more detail on closing statuses, including the difference between Remote Online Notarization (RON) and In-Person Notary closings, refer to the companion article: Understanding Closing Statuses.

Stage 6: Funded

✅ Milestone: The loan has completed the full lifecycle. The file has been moved to the funded archive.

No further action is required on a funded loan. The borrower's disbursement account will receive the wire transfer. The loan file is archived automatically.

Stage 7: Inactive

Inactive statuses indicate that a loan has reached a terminal state and will not proceed to funding. These statuses are applied either automatically by the system or manually by the loan team.

Status	What It Means
14-Day Expired	The loan was automatically archived after 14 days of inactivity during the intake stage, or was manually archived by a team member.
Withdrawn	The borrower or loan team has withdrawn the loan application. An Adverse Action Notice has been issued.
Denied	The loan was denied based on credit or eligibility criteria. An Adverse Action Notice has been issued.
Expired	The loan offer or application window expired before the borrower completed the required steps. An Adverse Action Notice has been issued.
UW Decline	The loan was declined by the underwriter after review. An Adverse Action Notice has been issued.
Auto Declined	The loan was automatically declined based on eligibility rules during the intake stage. An Adverse Action Notice has been issued.
Archived	The loan file has been manually or automatically archived. An Adverse Action Notice has been issued.

📌 Note: All Inactive statuses result in an Adverse Action Notice being sent automatically. Ensure your team is familiar with ECOA and FCRA adverse action requirements when a loan reaches one of these statuses.