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Requesting Underwriter Approval for Nonsupervised Lenders

The underwriter is responsible for approving or rejecting all VA loans. Therefore, the underwriter must be VA-approved.

A nonsupervised lender can request the approval of additional underwriters at any time. This request must be sent to the VA Office of Jurisdiction over the nonsupervised lender. Things required for the request include a $100 fee and the proper documentation of the underwriter.

Once this request is sent, the underwriter is required to attend an eight-hour training course on the responsibilities of an underwriter, the VA requirements for underwriters, and VA administrative requirements. The training is required to be completed within 90 days of approval. This is unless the VA is unable to schedule training within the 90 days. If this happens, then the underwriter must attend the next available training course.

The eight-hour training requirement can also be met by completing the online based training at http://homeloans.va.gov/train.htm.

Underwriters who already approve loans but are not meeting VA credit standards may be required to retake the training.

VA approval for the underwriter will no longer continue if the same lender no longer employs them. The lender is required to report the departure of their VA-approved underwriters to the VA.

Approval to Close Loans Involving an Affiliate

A nonsupervised lender is allowed to request approval closing loans involving an affiliate on an automatic basis. An affiliate can be any real estate brokerage firm, residential builder, or developer that the lender has a financial interest in. This could be based on the lender owning or being owned by the potential affiliate.

The request must be submitted to the VA Office of Jurisdiction over the lender in addition to a corporate resolution from the lender and each affiliate. This resolution must indicate that each affiliate is a separate entity, operating independently of each other.

In the corporate resolution, the nonsupervised lender must indicate that it won’t give more favorable underwriting consideration to its affiliate’s loans. For the affiliate’s corporate solution, they need to state that they will not influence the lender into giving them more favorable underwriting.