Applications that are ready to be decisioned appear in the home page’s Applications Pending Decision task. After you open an application pending decision, the application is removed from the group tasks and becomes your personal task (unless you open the application pending decision in read-only mode).

Applications that appear in the Pending Negotiation task of the group tasks also need to be accepted and decisioned.

When decisioning, you’re presented with a recommendation, a concise summary of factors behind the recommendation, and any credit policy violations, warnings, or information pertaining to the application. Further details about each section of the application are available if you need them (in the collapsed sections further down the Decision Application page).

You can also view the original application at any time by clicking the View Application button on the decisioning form.

If your lending limit is insufficient to approve the loan, you can add a co-decisioner.

Decisioning an Application

The basic steps for decisioning an application are as follows:

Accept the application for decisioning.
Note the recommended decision provided.
If system messages, credit policy messages, comments from the relationship manager, and/or the customer's position (for negotiation) are included, read them.
If desired, review the summaries provided on the decisioning page.
Either reprocess the application or enter a decision. If approving the application, choose whether to enter approval conditions (which will send the application to the Customer Acceptance task).
If you are approving the application and do not have sufficient lending authority, select a co-decisioner.
If desired, generate a commitment or decline letter.

For specific information about the decisioning form, see the Decision Application page topic for the appropriate application type:

Opening the Decision Application Page

Applications ready to be decisioned are group tasks (you can find these applications by using the Search functionality on the home page).

To view the Decision Application page before accepting it: Open it in read-only mode by right-clicking anywhere in the row describing the application and choosing View Decision from the menu that pops up.
To accept and open the Decision Application page: Click anywhere in the row describing the application.

If you close the Decision Application page before making the final decision on it, it will then appear on your home page under the appropriate tab.

Additive and Non-Additive Lending

Your financial institution is configured during setup for additive or non-additive lending authority.

Note: The default is additive lending authority. If you are interested in using the non-additive option, please contact Baker Hill Client Support.

In an additive situation, Baker Hill Origination adds the lending authority amounts for each of the underwriters, and approval is based on this total sum figure.
In a non-additive situation, the final underwriter must be able to approve the entire requested loan amount on his or her lending authority alone.

See the Lending Authority and Score Authority help topic for additional details.

Adding a Co-Decisioner

If you financial institution has chosen to use additive lending authority, co-decisioning applies if either of the following is true:

Your lending authority is insufficient to approve the application.
You've chosen to override the recommended decision and your score authority is insufficient.

In these two cases, when you attempt to complete your decision, the Lending and/or Score Authority dialog box appears.

Please note:

You can add a co-decisioner only when your lending authority or scoring authority is insufficient; if you have sufficient authority to decision the application yourself, you will not be given the opportunity to add a co-decisioner.
Adding a co-decisioner is not the same as forwarding an application to another underwriter. If you simply forward the application, you will not be listed as a co-decisioner, and your lending limits will not be added to the second underwriter's lending limits (therefore, if the second underwriter's lending limits are also insufficient to approve the application, he or she will need to add a co-decisioner). You may choose to forward the application instead of adding a co-decisioner: cancel out of the Lending and/or Scoring Authority dialog box, cancel out of the Decision Application page, and then use the Forward to Another User option on your home page to send the application to another underwriter.

In case of insufficient lending authority, here are the steps for adding a co-decisioner to an application that you're decisioning (in these steps, assume that you're Underwriter #1):

Underwriter #1 selects the Approve option in the Decision field of the decisioning form and clicks the Complete button.
If Underwriter #1 does not have sufficient lending authority to approve the application, the Lending Authority dialog box appears. Underwriter #1 selects the Co-Decision option and then selects an underwriter from the list.
The application is forwarded to the selected underwriter.
Underwriter #2 (the underwriter to whom the application was forwarded) reviews the application and decision and clicks the Complete button.

Note: If Underwriter #2 changes any of the fields in the Authorized section (decision, amount, or rate), Underwriter #2 becomes the sole decisioner; Underwriter #1 is no longer considered a co-decisioner.
All co-decisioners are listed on the decisioning page.

Steps for adding a co-decisioner in the case of insufficient score authority are essentially the same.

Generating a Letter

After you submit a final decision for a product on an application, Baker Hill Origination asks whether you want to download a commitment or decline letter (whichever is appropriate), and asks which principal the letter should be addressed to, if more than one principal is specified in the application. You can choose to download the letter now or do it later.

Note: If the application will go to the Customer Acceptance task, you will not be prompted about a commitment letter when you initially approve a product on an application, because the approval decision is not final until after the customer's acceptance.

Note for Bank2Business applications: When you download a letter from the Documents page for a Baker Hill Bank2Business application, you will no longer be prompted to select the principal to whom the letter should be addressed. You now choose which principals receive the letter on the Application page. See Small Business Application Page for more details.

Documents