What Not to Do Before Closing on a House

Your approval is not final until the loan funds. Lenders check your credit, job and bank accounts a second time, days before closing. Anything that changed since you applied can turn an approval into a denial or push the date back.

This list covers nine moves that do that damage. None of the sources we used counts how often each one causes a denial. So the order is based on the damage itself: moves that can end the loan outright come first, and moves that mostly cost days come last.

The baseline rules come from the agency guides, and many lenders add stricter rules of their own, called overlays. Before you act on anything here, ask your loan officer how their shop handles it. Co-signing someone else's loan and disputing items on your credit report belong on this list too. Our sources don't show how underwriters treat either one, so treat both as "ask first".

A new account costs you twice. The application creates a hard inquiry, and the new account lowers the average age of your accounts. Both can dip your score, according to Experian. That dip can affect whether you qualify or what rate you get.

Promotional financing is not exempt. One loan officer, Jeremy Drobeck, writes that underwriters count an estimated monthly payment of 1% to 5% of the balance, whatever the promo terms say. His example is a buyer who put a $6,000 furniture set on a store card eight days before closing. The lender then counted a payment of $60 to $300 a month that the buyer never expected to owe.

Lenders refresh your credit just before funding, so they will see the new account. Wait until after you have the keys.

A large purchase on an existing card raises your balance and your utilization. Utilization is the share of your available credit you are using, and a higher share can lower your score. The added debt also raises your debt-to-income ratio, which is the slice of your monthly income that goes to debt payments. Underwriters lean on that number heavily.

Paying cash does not make you safe either. Experts quoted by CBS News advise skipping big purchases even when they come from savings, because lenders review all of your account activity, not just new debt. If a purchase truly can't wait, keep it small and pay the balance off quickly.

Lenders verify your employment at application and again within days of closing, according to MortgageDaily. If your income has dropped by then, Experian notes the lender can deny final approval even if you fully document the change.

Some changes are usually survivable:

• a promotion with the same employer
• a lateral move in the same field with similar pay
• a new job that starts with no gap in employment

Others usually cause trouble:

• moving from salary to commission
• moving from a W-2 job to 1099 contract work, which resets the work-history clock lenders use
• switching to an unrelated career
• any gap in employment
• a new job with a probationary period

If you are paid hourly, keep your hours steady. Tell your loan officer before you accept an offer, even a raise. Then send the written offer letter showing salary, start date and pay structure, and your first pay stub once you have it.

Lenders require you to verify and source every dollar you put toward closing. Drobeck also points to federal anti-money-laundering rules against untraceable deposits. A cash deposit with no paper trail is exactly what the pre-funding review of your bank statements is built to catch.

The exact paperwork a lender will accept depends on the program and the lender. If a relative is helping or you are selling something, ask your loan officer what documentation they need before the money lands in your account.

This one surprises people because the money is already theirs. But an unexplained transfer between your own accounts can set off a long run of documentation requests. That can delay closing even when every dollar is legitimate.

The underwriter is matching what you have now against what they already approved. Every transfer you make is one more item they have to trace and explain. Leave funds where they sit until closing. If you need to move money to the title company, ask your lender how to do it.

Payment history makes up more than a third of a credit score, per CBS News. One late bill in the weeks before closing can do real damage to your score.

Bank of America's Matt Vernon warned that late payments could lead to higher mortgage costs. A buyer who is busy packing and signing is exactly the person who forgets a due date. Setting up autopay on every account until you close is cheap insurance.

Missing a deadline for pay stubs, bank statements or proof of insurance can delay closing. It can also leave you with a higher rate or cause the deal to fall out of escrow entirely, according to Experian. "Do not ghost the lender," Beeston told CBS. "If documents arrive, do not delay."

The back-and-forth is where the days go. In a pilot of United Wholesale Mortgage's single-underwriter program, loans averaged 8.3 days from submission to clear to close, with about two underwriting touches per file. Each extra round trip adds time on top of that. Answer every condition within the same day if you can.

Lenders won't clear a loan to close without the insurance it requires. That matters right now if the home sits in a Special Flood Hazard Area, a zone where federally backed flood coverage is required.

Congress must reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program by 11:59 p.m. on September 30, 2026. If it misses that deadline, FEMA stops issuing new policies and processing renewals until the program is reauthorized. Policies already in force stay valid until they expire. As of today, we don't know whether Congress will act in time.

This has happened before. During the October 2025 lapse, the National Association of Realtors estimated about 1,400 home sales a day were affected. Private flood insurance can substitute if the policy is properly documented, but it can cost far more. One Florida buyer was quoted $2,800 a year through the federal program and $15,000 privately.

Check the flood zone on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center. Then get your coverage confirmed in writing, and ask your lender whether it will close if the program lapses.

Your lender must give you the Closing Disclosure, the final statement of your loan terms and costs, at least three business days before closing. For this rule, a business day is every day except Sundays and federal holidays. If the document hasn't arrived on time, call your lender right away, because the closing may have to move.

Compare it line by line against your Loan Estimate. Some costs can't go up at all, and others can rise only up to 10% combined. Under Regulation Z, only three changes restart the three-day clock:

• the APR moves by more than 1/8 of a point on a fixed-rate loan, or 1/4 of a point on an adjustable one
• the loan product changes, for example from FHA to conventional
• a prepayment penalty is added

Any other change gets a corrected disclosure at or before closing, with no new wait. The CFPB asked in a July 9, 2026 request for information whether to loosen these timing rules. No final rule had been issued as of late September, so the current rules apply to your closing.

Every item here comes back to one rule: keep your job, credit and accounts exactly as they were when your file was approved. If you have already broken that rule, the fix is the same either way. Email your loan officer today and list every change since you applied, with the paperwork attached. A change you disclose early can often be documented. A change the lender finds at final verification can cost you the closing date. If the home is in a flood zone, call your insurance agent before September 30.