Mortgage & Refinancing Guides

What underwriting actually tests

Under the CFPB's Ability-to-Repay rule, a lender has to evaluate eight specific factors before approving a loan: current or expected income and assets, employment status, the payment on this loan and any simultaneous loan, monthly mortgage-related obligations, existing debts and support obligations, the resulting debt-to-income ratio, and credit history — and it has to verify most of that against third-party records, not your say-so. "No-doc" loans are effectively prohibited. For a Qualified Mortgage, total monthly debt including the new housing payment generally can't exceed 43% of gross monthly income.

That's the same test regardless of whether you're buying, refinancing, or pulling equity out — a HELOC or cash-out refinance still runs through income and DTI verification, it's just measured against a smaller or larger new payment.

The fee categories under TRID

TRID — the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule — governs the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure you receive on any of these transactions. Fees split into origination charges, services you can't shop for, services you can shop for, and other costs — and separately, into tolerance categories: some fees can't increase at all after the Loan Estimate without a valid change in circumstance, others can move but only within a cumulative 10% band, and a few (like property taxes or insurance) aren't capped at all because the lender doesn't control them.

The CFPB requires the lender to deliver your Closing Disclosure at least three business days before you actually close — a mandatory window built specifically so you can compare the final numbers against the original Loan Estimate and flag anything that moved before you're sitting at the closing table.

Loan-type decision framing

FHA loans require 3.5% down at a 580 credit score, or 10% down at 500–579, per HUD Handbook 4000.1. VA loans require no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance, offset by a one-time funding fee of 0.5%–3.3% depending on down payment and prior use. USDA's guaranteed program backs 100% financing with no minimum credit-score floor in eligible rural areas, capped at 115% of area median income. Term and rate decisions run on top of whichever program you qualify for: Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey had the 30-year fixed at 6.65% and the 15-year at 5.95% for the week of August 20, 2026. Compare terms with the mortgage calculator and 15 vs 30-year mortgage calculator, or price a refinance or equity pull with the amortization calculator and HELOC vs. cash-out refinance calculator below.