Significance

• The DU program allows lenders to quickly assess whether a borrower is qualified for the selected mortgage product. It is one of the first steps in the mortgage loan process.
  
  

Function

• The DU quickly alerts the lending agent to any potential problems with a borrower's application and helps the lender to determine which loans he should try to close and which ones he should immediately deny.
  
  

Types

• DU can offer several results for a borrower's application, with the most favorable being an accept/accept and the least being ineligible/deny.
  
  

Considerations

• The DU result is not the final say in a mortgage application. If the lending agent thinks that the borrower still has a chance to close, he may ask for a manual underwrite to get a human's opinion on the matter.
  
  

Benefits

• DU is a good tool for mortgage lenders to use to decide which loans are worthy of a second look and further processing.