A loan file builds in waves: the borrower sends identity documents, then tax assessments (avis d’imposition), then remembers an existing credit, then the bank asks for one more. For the broker, the real work is knowing, at each moment, what's received, what's missing and what's already gone to a lender. This article gives a standard list, a way to organise it, and how to protect what's sensitive.
Requirements vary from bank to bank and profile to profile: the list below is a base, to adjust with each lender's demands.
What documents to request from a borrower
They're usually grouped by theme, which helps the borrower find their way.
Identity and personal situation
- Valid ID from each borrower.
- Proof of address.
- Family record, or equivalent document, depending on situation.
- Marriage or civil partnership contract, if applicable.
Income
- Recent payslips.
- Recent tax assessment(s).
- Employment contract, or employer certificate as needed.
- For self-employed or business owners: recent balance sheets and tax filings, plus income documentation.
- Proof of other income: rental income, pensions.
Accounts, savings and down payment
- Recent bank statements.
- Proof of savings and source of down payment.
- Gift letter if the down payment comes from a gift.
Existing debts and charges
- Amortisation schedules for existing loans.
- Proof of current rent, or housing situation.
- Alimony paid, if any.
The project
- Purchase agreement or promise to sell, or offer to purchase.
- For land and construction: the construction contract, plan and quote.
- For renovation: quotes from contractors.
- Appraisal or valuation report, if one exists.
Some of these won't apply to every file. The key is asking only what the file needs, and saying so: a long list with no explanation discourages.
How to organise the collection
A loan file rarely fails for one missing document, but often from scatter: four emails, two WhatsApps, a scan sideways. Three principles limit the damage.
One request per theme, rather than one long list. "Your income," "your down payment," "your project": the borrower handles one block and sees their progress.
One deadline per request, tied to a real event. The deadline for the purchase agreement, or for the bank submission, rather than vague "as soon as possible." The borrower understands why the date matters.
One instruction per document that could confuse. "The last three statements, all pages," "the tax assessment complete, both sides." This avoids back-and-forths that waste more time than the original request.
When a borrower sends a document, acknowledge what's good and say precisely what's wrong with the rest. A borrower who knows where they stand answers faster.
How to manage multiple borrowers and multiple lenders
A couple, two co-borrowers, sometimes a guarantor: each person has their own documents. So address requests to the person concerned, not the "file" in general. Each then knows what they must provide, and you see who's blocked.
On the lender side, keep one copy of each document, in one place, and send it from there. A document renamed and emailed three times becomes three versions.
Privacy: what outside parties see
A loan file brings in many people: the notary, the estate agent, the builder, sometimes a bank adviser. None need to see the borrower's bank statements or tax assessments. Financial and identity documents go to those who need them, not to the whole chain.
Concretely:
- Separate exchanges. What you tell the borrower about their budget shouldn't be readable by the seller.
- Limit what each party sees, from the start. It's simpler to restrict at the outset than to correct later.
- Don't forward sensitive documents as attachments to third parties: each send creates a copy you don't control.
With Kolinea
Each theme becomes a document request: one line per document, an optional instruction, a deadline, and a specific recipient among the borrowers. The borrower uploads files from a link, confirmed by an email code, with no account to create. You accept each document or reject it with a reason; reminders go out two days before the due date, on the day, the day after, then seven days later.
For privacy, publications marked confidential are read only by the team and the people they name or mention, the borrowers for instance: a participant (notary, bank, agent) does not see them unless you name them, reminders and exports included. Added with limited access, they only read the items addressed to them.
You can walk through a complete financing folder from the mortgage brokers page, whose button opens the example folder. To open yours, sign up from the home page.