I am looking for additional guidance on the timeframe of signature of the Initial Application and Initial Disclosures acknowledged/signed by the applicants. I am referring to the Initial Loan Application and the Borrower's Authorization Form.

Our applicants can opt thru E-Sign to obtain their disclosures electronically. However, currently, we do not offer the availability to sign the documents electronically.

What are the timing requirements of obtaining their signature and consent on these initial documents?

There are no regulatory signature or timing requirements for these documents.
Any requirements you have are part of your bank's policy and procedures OR are investor requirements.

Thanks Truffle Royale for the quick response!! Much appreciated.

Are there "best practices" you would recommend?

In some cases, I am finding these initials are signed at closing.

It's really up to you to determine how you want this handled. We sell all our loans so we get signatures on the applicatoins because investors require it. In the cases of apps taken any way but face to face, we often get signatures at closing because that's the first time the borrowers are in the office. If you want signatures for an investor, be careful with dating signatures because that will often cause kick-backs.

Are there "best practices" you would recommend?

My recommendation is to never require signatures where they are not investor, legally or regulatorily required.

As a wholesale lender we dont even require the borrowers to sign the initial 1003, only the LO. The borrower's cert and auth, we allow it to be signed with any date. Before or after.