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What Is The Debt-To-Income Ratio (DTI)?

  Measuring your existing debts against your existing income is one part of a lender’s required assessment of your ability to repay a loan. Like the video says:  debts are existing financial commitments; a car payment is a debt a grocery bill is not. To calculate...

What Does Ability To Repay Mean?

  What are the “Ability to repay” rules about? In a nutshell, as this video shows, new laws require lenders to make a good-faith assessment of a borrower’s capacity to pay back their loan over time. It’s a longer-term view that goes beyond immediate income, debt...

What Is A Qualified Mortgage?

  As this video explains,  Federal laws put into effect in 2014 and  supervised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau define lending practices and loan terms for a new category called “Qualified Mortgages.” They provide stable loan features for...

What Is A Rate Lock?

  Mortgage rates change constantly through an unpredictable combination of government policies and economic conditions. This video explains the common term ‘rate lock.’ A “Rate Lock” is a guarantee that a lender will honor a specific combination of...

What Is A Certificate of Eligibility, or COE?

  What Is A Certificate of Eligibility, or COE? The COE is the key document that verifies to lenders that someone is eligible for a VA-backed loan. Servicemembers, Veterans and National Guard and Reserve members may apply online or through their lender; most...