Switching lenders 40 days before closing
We’re buying a new construction home in Texas and are supposed to close in about 40 days. I’m freaking out a little and would really appreciate some advice from people who have been through something similar.
When we started this process, our realtor strongly encouraged us to use the lender he works with. We went with them because we trusted his recommendation.
However, the builder has a preferred lender that was offering us 2% toward closing costs + $2,500 in flex cash, so we started wondering if we should switch. The preferred lender also has to approve us/pre-approve us in order for us to get those incentives.
Now we’re trying to make the switch, but we’ve run into a huge issue with documentation for the mobile home we currently live in and are financing.
The mobile home is financed, but apparently the loan is not in my husband’s name on his credit report. The current lender we’re using for the new house did not include it in our debt because, from what they explained, the mobile home’s title/loan is held under the bank’s name and it never appeared on my husband’s credit.
The preferred lender is taking a completely different position. They’re saying that we must disclose/include the mobile home information, and that if we don’t, it could be considered fraud.
I’m obviously NOT trying to hide anything. We told them about the mobile home. The problem is getting the documentation they want.
They’re asking for six years of payment history. Our mobile-home park/property manager was able to give us payment history, but only back to May 2026 because they switched systems and everything before May was archived. We’ve also made most of our payments through money orders, with some checks, and unfortunately I did not keep the money-order receipts. 🤦🏻♀️
So now we’re stuck trying to prove six years of payments on a property we’ve been paying for since around 2020, when the records we can obtain don’t go back that far.
Here’s where I’m really anxious:
If we apply with the preferred lender and they pull our credit, and then for some reason they DON’T approve us, could that credit pull hurt our ability to close with our original lender?
Our original lender has specifically told us not to have our credit pulled again this close to closing.
We’re about 40 days from closing, so we’re terrified of messing up the loan we already have while trying to switch lenders for the builder incentives.
Has anyone dealt with:
Switching mortgage lenders ~40 days before closing?
A lender requiring documentation for a debt that doesn’t appear on credit?
A mobile home loan/title situation like this?
Not being able to provide a full 6 years of payment history?
Having a second mortgage credit pull this close to closing?
Could a failed application with the preferred lender jeopardize our existing mortgage approval?