"it's usually just a compliance thing—they're ticking boxes to cover themselves."
Exactly this. I've seen some pretty wild requests lately—one client was asked for pay stubs from a summer job he had 15 years ago. Seriously, who keeps that stuff? 😂 But yeah, politely pushing back can help. Sometimes lenders are so deep in their own checklists they forget how unrealistic they're being. Doesn't always work, but worth a shot...and at least you'll feel better knowing you tried.
Yeah, lenders can get pretty tunnel-visioned sometimes. Had a client recently who was asked to verify an address from college dorms—like, seriously? The building doesn't even exist anymore. But you're right, gently pushing back can help them realize they're being unreasonable. It won't always change their minds, but at least you know you've done your part. Hang in there...these things usually smooth out eventually.
Had something similar happen recently:
- Lender asked me to verify employment from a company I worked at 12 years ago.
- Company got bought out, HR department completely changed, no one there knew me.
- Took days of back-and-forth emails just to convince them it wasn't possible.
- Eventually they accepted old tax returns instead, but man...talk about jumping through hoops.
Makes me wonder if these tighter rules are actually helping anyone or just creating unnecessary headaches.
"Took days of back-and-forth emails just to convince them it wasn't possible."
Haha, sounds about right—sometimes lenders act like we're all secretly hoarding decade-old paystubs. Wonder if anyone's actually benefiting from these stricter checks, or if it's just box-ticking gone wild...
"Wonder if anyone's actually benefiting from these stricter checks, or if it's just box-ticking gone wild..."
Honestly, I wondered the same thing when I went through it recently. Felt like I was auditioning for some weird reality show—"Survivor: Mortgage Edition." 😂 They asked me to track down a landlord reference from 8 years ago...like who keeps that kind of info handy?
But thinking about it later, maybe there's some method behind the madness? Stricter checks could be protecting people from getting loans they can't realistically afford. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself after all that paperwork trauma...
Still, you'd think there'd be a better balance between responsible lending and not driving us first-timers completely nuts. Has anyone actually felt reassured by these tighter rules, or is it more anxiety-inducing than helpful?
