That time a lender told me to "just lie on the application"

I was shopping around for a small multifamily deal in Cleveland back in March and this one broker I talked to straight up told me to fudge the numbers on my debt coverage ratio. He said everyone does it and the underwriter wouldn't check. I almost went along with it because I was desperate to close. But at the last second I decided to run the numbers by my uncle who does commercial lending. He told me that was a fast track to a denial and possibly worse. I ended up finding a local credit union that actually worked with me on the terms. Has anyone else had a broker or lender suggest something shady like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant.luna5d ago

That "everyone does it" line always sets off alarm bells for me.

jamie_clark4d ago

Oh man, I hear you loud and clear on that. It's such a lazy excuse, right? It's like they're trying to make you feel silly for having a normal reaction to something sketchy. I've had people pull that on me before, and it just makes me dig my heels in harder, because usually it means they know what they're doing is wrong.