Do's - Tips to a Quicker Funding

1. It is never too early to confirm collateral. The longer you wait, the more chance of it becoming a sticking point later on.
2. Submit Trust and/or corporate organizational documents (for corporations, partnerships, LLC) as soon as possible to ensure they have the approval of our legal department.
3. Get a jump-start on collateral approval. If being pledged from a brokerage account or bank, make sure they will accept FIRST’s Control Agreement. We will provide you with a sample for their review.
4. Provide contact information for collateral holder at brokerage house/bank to help ensure a swift, smooth finish.
5. Make sure every tax return and financial statement is signed and dated in the initial loan package. This is one of the most common mistakes we see!
6. Go over the details of FIRST’s offer letter thoroughly and call your FIRST Account Manager if there are any conditions on which you are not clear. If you do not understand the details, it can be a stumbling block for your client and their advisors.
7. Remind your client that the rate quoted in the Offer Letter is only a sample rate. The APR is locked in when loan documents are issued.
8. Make sure to return final documents, premium finance illustrations, and carrier illustrations signed by your client. We cannot fund until we receive them.

Don'ts - The 6 Most Common Errors

1. Not providing complete signed and dated tax returns and financial statements will stop the underwriting process! Believe it or not, 80% of loan packages we receive are incomplete!
2. Once you submit the initial package, any change made to the illustrations, borrower, collateral or interest payment preference will cause delays.
3. Too often, a failure to carefully examine the final conditions to funding and fulfilling those conditions stops us from paying the premium.
4. Trust Agreement or other applicable organizational documents are essential for putting our legal documents together. Without them your case cannot be completed.
5. If collateral is not approved and in place by the time your case gets to our Legal Department, loan documents cannot be prepared.
6. Before we can fund, we must have the original interest check and/or original Letter of Credit.

If using a brokerage account as collateral, you must obtain a printout screen from the brokerage house showing FIRST as the assignee in order to fund. To insure this does not hold things up, inform the brokerage house in advance that this will be needed ASAP.