Take the application
Two paths: phone-taken by LO vs. borrower self-serves via online URL.
Overview
The application gets taken one of two ways, and the branch splits roughly 50/50 between them: the LO takes it over the phone, or the borrower self-serves through the LO's online application link. Both are first-class paths — neither is a fallback. The right one depends on the borrower's readiness and time, which you read at the end of the qualifying conversation.
Whichever path it takes, the destination is the same: a complete, accurate 1003 in Arive, reviewed by the LO, ready for the credit pull.
Path 1 — Phone-taken application
If the borrower is ready at the end of the qualifying call, roll straight into the application. Because you gathered everything during discovery, this is a transfer exercise — you're keying your notes into Arive, not interrogating the borrower from scratch. Plan for 15–20 minutes.
Starting the application in Arive
Scribe walkthrough pending — step-by-step click path with screenshots will be embedded here.
eConsent on the phone path
The borrower never touched the online flow, so eConsent hasn't been captured yet. After the application is created, Arive sends the borrower a portal invite — they complete eConsent when they first log in. Tell the borrower on the call to expect that email and to log in promptly. Without eConsent, electronic disclosures can't go out later, which stalls the file.
Path 2 — Online application
Sending the link
Each LO has their own Arive online application URL. Send it in whatever channel you've been talking with the borrower — text, email, doesn't matter. Match their preference; don't force a channel switch.
Default: send your public app URL and let the borrower's submission create the loan in Arive. Don't pre-create a loan file and invite them into it — the public link is simpler for everyone.
The one exception: repeat borrowers. If you're working with a past client, clone their old loan instead — their information carries over and they only update what's changed. Then invite them into the cloned file.
Scribe walkthrough pending — cloning a loan for a repeat borrower.
Co-borrowers
Each borrower gets a separate invite and completes their own portion of the application. Don't have couples share a login or fill out one flow together — separate invites keep the data clean and the eConsent trail correct.
eConsent
Handled automatically — eConsent is part of the online application flow. Nothing for the LO to do.
When the borrower finishes
Arive notifies you by email immediately when the application is submitted. No need to poll the pipeline.
Chasing incomplete online applications
Completion is wildly variable. Some borrowers finish same-day; some never finish without follow-up. Two layers of defense:
Layer 1 — Arive's automated reminder emails
Arive sends reminder emails to borrowers with incomplete applications. The cadence is customizable per LO in your Arive settings — daily for five days, every other day for ten days, whatever fits your style. Set this up once; it runs itself.
Note: Arive's reminders are email only. There is no automated text or phone follow-up.
Layer 2 — Personal follow-up (this is the one that works)
Email reminders alone don't rescue stalled applications — a personal text or call does. If an application has been sitting incomplete for more than a couple of days, reach out directly in the borrower's preferred channel. This is your deal to keep alive, not Arive's.
Hard rule: always review and clean up the application before pulling credit. A borrower-submitted online application is a draft, not a finished 1003. Borrowers regularly get all of these wrong: employment and income structure, missing co-borrower income, incomplete assets and wrong balances, declaration answers, missed REO and other properties, and address history gaps. Pulling credit — and especially running AUS — off unreviewed borrower data means working from bad inputs. Review every section, correct what's wrong, fill what's missing, then move to the credit pull.
LO review checklist (online submissions)
Before moving to the credit pull, verify each of these against what you learned in the qualifying conversation:
- Employment & income — pay structure correct (W2 / hourly / 1099 / commission / self-employed)? Co-borrower income present? Other income sources captured?
- Assets — all accounts listed? Balances plausible? Down payment source consistent with what they told you?
- Declarations — answers consistent with the credit story from your call? (Borrowers frequently misread these questions.)
- REO / other properties — every property they mentioned on the call showing here? Rental income captured if applicable?
- Address history — two full years, no gaps?
- Personal details — legal name matches ID, DOB and SSN entered correctly?
Anything that contradicts your qualifying-call notes is worth a quick clarifying text to the borrower before you proceed — not after AUS surprises you.
Common pitfalls
Pulling credit straight off a borrower-submitted app
Covered above, but it's the number-one mistake on the online path. The review step is not optional.
Letting a stalled application die quietly
The borrower who doesn't finish the app isn't saying no — they're distracted. Arive's email reminders won't resurrect them; your personal follow-up will. Check your incomplete applications regularly.
Sending the public link to a repeat borrower
Makes them re-type everything you already have. Clone the old loan instead — better experience for them, cleaner file for you.
Forgetting the portal invite on phone-taken apps
If eConsent never gets captured, disclosures stall later and the timeline slips. Set the expectation on the call: "You'll get an email from our system today — log in and accept the consent so we can send everything electronically."
Who to ask if you're stuck
Arive application mechanics or settings (reminder cadence, cloning, invites): Bryce or Dean.
Borrower having trouble with the online flow: walk them through it live, or switch to phone-taken — don't let the tool block the deal.