Automated underwriting tool commonly used to evaluate mortgage files against Fannie Mae-style criteria.
Desktop Underwriter (DU) is an automated underwriting tool commonly used by lenders to evaluate a mortgage file against Fannie Mae-style eligibility and risk criteria.
Desktop Underwriter matters because borrowers may hear a lender say the file has a DU result, DU findings, or a DU approval. That does not mean the mortgage is finished. It means the lender has run the file through a specific automated underwriting path and received a system recommendation that still has to be supported by documents and final lender review.
DU can influence what the lender asks for next, whether the file looks eligible for a standard path, and whether the lender needs to adjust the loan structure, documentation, or program choice.
Borrowers usually encounter DU language after application or preapproval, once the lender has enough borrower, property, income, asset, credit, and loan data to run the file through an Automated Underwriting System (AUS).
The result may appear before full underwriting, during conditional approval, or after an AUS Resubmission if the loan amount, income, debts, property details, or other file data change.
| Term | What it describes |
|---|---|
| Desktop Underwriter | A specific automated underwriting tool used for many conventional loan files |
| Loan Product Advisor | Another major automated underwriting tool used on Freddie Mac-style paths |
| AUS Findings | The output or conditions generated by an automated underwriting run |
| Manual Underwriting | Human review when automated approval is not enough or not available |
A borrower applies for a conventional mortgage. The lender enters the file into DU and receives findings showing the file may proceed if income, asset, credit, and property documentation support the submitted data.
Desktop Underwriter differs from Automated Underwriting System (AUS) because AUS is the broad category. DU is one specific tool inside that category.
It differs from Approve/Eligible because Approve/Eligible is a type of system recommendation. DU is the tool that may generate that recommendation.
It also differs from Underwriting because underwriting is the whole lender review process, while DU is one automated component of that process.