Tough To Fill Out

According to American consumers, the most difficult form to fill out is the mortgage application. Bankers agree!

In an effort to standardize mortgage application forms, four federal agencies are working with mortgage bankers to design an application that allows more room for written answers, is easier to read, and is a format that can be easily processed by computer.

The Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal National Mortgage Association, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., working with mortgage bankers, have as their goal an application that is as consumer and lender-friendly as possible.

Simplifying the form, but still including the financial and personal information necessary is a difficult process. Even so, the prototype should be out in about six months, say the project leaders.

In the same survey of consumers, (done by Siegel & Gale, a New York communications firm) some of our other applications got high marks, such as other types of loan and credit card applications. Banking statements are considered fairly easy to understand, but hospital bills are very confusing, according to most respondents.

Copyright © 1990 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 1, No. 12, 12/90