We are having a problem with customers returning our Acknowledgement and Intent to Proceed document. Would it be permissible to include in our cover letter a statement telling the customer that by providing additional information and items to us indicates an intent by the customer to proceed with the application? Would this satisfy the requirement or would we need a separate form?

That's what we do.

There's no form required to prove intent to proceed. Your verbiage could be one way. A call to the LO could be another. Just make sure you document the file if it's the latter.

Why do you use something the applicant has to sign and return when it's not required by the regulation? Using a form that the applicant has to sign and return when not necessary cultivates these type of issues, not to mention it's just one more inconvenience they have to endure.

We simply tell the applicant once they receive the GFE and they wish to proceed they need to call the loan officer and inform them they wish to proceed. The loan officer notes this in the flow sheet and informs the applicant what fees we need paid before we can proceed.

Thank you, Dan.

We let them know that receipt of their "appraisal fee" along with their signed TIL will indicate their intent to proceed.

Again there is no regulatory requirement to have this document signed.

We don't require signatures when we don't have to, requiring them is just one more thing the examiners can criticize you for when you don't have the signed form, and may the compliance gods have mercy on you if you have all signed forms in protected class files and don't happen to have one in a non-protected class file.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying these procedures are wrong or prohibited, I'm just saying such procedures can lead to more problems than they prevent, but as the old saying goes. If it's not broken, don't fix it. But watch for cracks..

If the customer decides not to proceed, how do you handle for Reg B and HMDA purposes?

Any help would be greatly appreciated