Applying for a mortgage today can sometimes feel less like borrowing money and more like preparing for a federal background investigation.
Lenders want paystubs, tax returns, bank statements, employment verification, explanations for deposits, explanations for credit inquiries, explanations for transfers between accounts, and occasionally what feels like a written reflection on your financial decisions dating back to 2017.
Buyers often assume this is simply how mortgages have always worked.
It hasn’t.
Much of the modern mortgage process was reshaped in the aftermath of the 2008 housing collapse and the passage of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
