Better safe than sorry, even if it feels like you’re doing their job for them sometimes…
That’s exactly how I felt during my refi last year. I kept thinking, “Shouldn’t they already have this info?” but every weird transfer or random deposit was like a red flag to them. Out of curiosity—has anyone had a lender actually question small cash gifts from family? I’ve heard stories about that, but never dealt with it myself. Just wondering if I should be extra careful with that stuff in the future.
Lenders are like detectives with a caffeine addiction—nothing gets past them, especially when it comes to “mystery money.” I’ve seen clients get grilled over a $200 birthday check from grandma. They’ll want a paper trail for any gift, no matter how small. Best bet is to keep records and maybe warn your relatives not to use “for your secret project” in the memo line... makes things way more complicated than they need to be.
Haha, the “secret project” memo line cracks me up. My cousin actually wrote “for your bail” on a check once and my bank called me—true story. But yeah, lenders are on high alert for any unexplained deposits. Why do they care so much about tiny gifts though? I get it for big chunks, but $50 from Aunt Linda? Seems a bit much. I just keep a folder of every random check now… paranoid or prepared?
I totally get the paranoia. I had to dig up a Venmo screenshot for $30 my grandma sent me for “pizza night” because the underwriter flagged it. Felt ridiculous, but I guess they’re just super strict about tracking every dollar. Better safe than sorry, I guess...
Honestly, I get why it feels over the top, but sometimes I wonder if lenders are just making things harder than they need to.
- $30 from grandma for pizza night? That’s hardly a suspicious deposit.
- I’ve seen folks get flagged for even smaller stuff, like splitting an Uber ride.
- Sure, they want to track funds, but at some point it borders on nitpicking.
I get the “better safe than sorry” angle, but sometimes it feels like they’re just covering themselves instead of actually preventing fraud. Maybe there’s a middle ground where common sense could kick in...
