Organize loan files
by borrower

A loan is the unit of work, so it should be the unit of your folders. One folder per loan, named by the borrower and the loan number, so you can find it by either.

Keep it flat. Inside the loan folder, you do not need a maze of subfolders. A clear file name does the same job and is much harder to get wrong. The one exception is a separate Conditions folder, so underwriting items do not bury the core documents.

With co-borrowers, use one folder under the primary borrower and the single loan number, and name the second borrower in the file, like 2026-05-10-Paystub-Rivera-Jose.pdf.

Put the date first, then what the document is. Year, month, day order means files sort correctly everywhere, and you can see at a glance which paystub is the newest.

Use the document’s own date where it has one, like a statement date, not the date you received it. That is the date an underwriter cares about.

Keep a checklist for the loan type, then open the folder next to it. Anything on the checklist that is not in the folder is what you still need.

Because every file starts with a date and a type, you can also see when something is out of date, like a bank statement that is older than your lender allows.

Most processors start with a loan folder template and a conditions checklist. It works until you have many loans open at once and every borrower sends documents differently.

The next step is a rule that files each document by itself when it arrives. That can be an email rule or a no-code workflow tool you keep running. Or you can describe the rule in plain words and let Filex read each document and file it.

It files documents. It does not decide whether a document is acceptable, check a borrower’s figures, or message the borrower to ask for more. It also needs the borrower’s name or loan number to be readable on the page, so a document without either may need a quick look from you.

It files documents from the day you turn it on. Cleaning up your older loans is a separate job.