The mortgage closing process is one of the most critical—and often misunderstood—stages of the homeownership journey. This final stretch before closing should be smooth, yet, it’s usually where things unravel. Delays, defects, and last-minute scrambles can derail the borrower experience and strain internal teams, especially those closing loans.
Ben DiMeo, Enact’s Senior Sales Consultant, breaks down the most common pre-closing pitfalls, how to fix them, and insights to help manage this process improvement opportunity. When roles are unclear and tasks are delayed, closings suffer. But with the right tools and structure, lenders can dramatically reduce defects and improve the borrower journey.
Start with clarity: pre-closing roles and responsibilities
One of the biggest contributors to pre-closing chaos is a lack of transparency around who is responsible for what. When roles are vague, tasks get pushed to the closer—who is already under pressure to meet tight timelines.
Lenders must ensure every team member understands their responsibilities—and that those responsibilities aren’t defaulted to the closer unless explicitly intended. This helps identify whether issues stem from performance gaps or training needs.
Exercise: Create a clear RACI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) for each step in the process. This ensures accountability and prevents tasks from falling through the cracks.
Top pre-closing defect areas (and how to avoid them)
1. Homeowners Insurance
This is the #1 issue we see. Often, insurance details are incomplete or missing entirely when the file reaches the closer.
✅ Possible Solution: Assign a specific role to obtain the quote, confirm the mortgagee clause, close date, and property address with the carrier—before the file is cleared to close.
2. Title Review
Trusts, liens, vesting issues, and POAs can cause last-minute surprises if the prelim or title report isn’t reviewed early.
✅ Possible Solution: Designate a title-savvy team member to review the prelim/title report and flag issues early in the process.
3. Conditions
Typically, closers should not be clearing prior-to-doc conditions. If they are, it’s a sign of a broken handoff.
✅ Possible Solution: Ensure Processors and Underwriters clear these before the file moves forward—unless your process explicitly assigns this to the closer.
4. 10-Day Tasks and Expired Docs
Final VVOEs, soft credit pulls, and other time-sensitive documents often get overlooked.
✅ Possible Solution: Track expiration dates and assign responsibility to the Processor. Use alerts or dashboards to stay ahead.
5. Initial Closing Disclosure (ICD)
Timing the ICD is tricky, but critical. Some lenders skip it altogether, while others send it too early or too late.
✅ Possible Solution: Initiate the ICD after conditional approval, so as to meet and clear timing requirements, and educate borrowers on what numbers may change.
6. Invoices
Missing invoices at the ICD stage can delay everything.
✅ Possible Solution: Use a centralized system or checklist to ensure all invoices are collected and verified before ICD.
Build a feedback loop: track and improve pre-closing
Closers are often left to deal with the fallout of upstream issues. Without a feedback loop, the same problems repeat, often unreported and unresolved.
Lenders should implement a system to:
- Document closing defects
- Report them to the responsible party
- Use the data to improve training and performance
This isn’t about blame—it’s about impact. Understanding how each role affects the closer’s ability to meet deadlines and maintain compliance is essential.
Monitor cycle time and SLAs for the closing process
Understanding how long it takes to move a file from one role to the next is key to improving efficiency and the borrower experience.
Exercise: Establish Service Level Agreement (SLA) goals for each role of the process. Monitor cycle times (leading into the closing stretch) and identify bottlenecks in the process before they become problems.
Building time into the process for closers to do their job properly is a best practice that supports not only the pre-closing team, but the borrowers on the loans.
Final closing process takeaways + resources
Pre-closing doesn’t have to be painful. With clear roles, proactive reviews, and strong communication, you can reduce defects, improve timelines, and deliver a better experience for everyone involved.
Let’s raise the bar—one clean closing at a time.
Want other tools and insights? We have FTHB Resources that cover various parts of the homebuying process, empowering your borrowers to feel confident and informed throughout their journey.
More ways we at Enact can help
Enact also offers a suite of solutions and resources for you—including Rate Express®, Underwriting Resources, and training resources to help you along the mortgage origination process.
Source: Ben DiMeo is the Senior Sales Consultant at Enact Mortgage Insurance. He spends his time helping customers solve business problems by maximizing efficiencies, improving quality, and enhancing the customer experience.
The statements in this article are solely the opinions of Ben DiMeo and do not necessarily reflect the views of Enact or its management.
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