USDA GUS TRAINING

CREDIT UNDERWRITING/VIEW FINDINGS
Training Objectives:

• Understanding of how to complete and utilize the Credit Underwriting and View 

Findings tabs in GUS.

• Request credit.

• Request Preliminary Underwriting.

• Request Final Underwriting and Submission to Rural Development.

• An overview of View Findings and its components Underwriting Findings Report, 

Underwriting Analysis Report and the Credit Report.
Credit Underwriting

The Credit Underwriting tab allows users to order a 

new or reissued credit report(s) for underwriting 

purposes. The user may also perform a preliminary or 

final underwriting submission.

After navigating to this tab, the user has the following 

options:

• Request Credit Report

• Request Credit Report and Underwriting Only 

(Preliminary Underwriting for Pre-Approval)

• Request Underwriting Only (Preliminary 

Underwriting for Pre-approval)

• Request Final Underwriting and Submission to 

Rural Development
Credit Underwriting– Steps to Order a Credit Report

Steps:

1. Select an option from the 

Request You Would Like to 

Submit from drop-down.

2. If credit report is being 

ordered, select Joint if 

applicable. If an existing 

credit report is being utilized, 

enter the Reference Number 

otherwise select the New 

checkbox.

3. Select the Service Provider, 

enter the Account Number 

and Password.

4. Select the Submit button.
Credit Underwriting – Contact Information

Steps:

1. Enter contact information for 

the Lender.

2. Enter up to 5 email 

addresses to receive the 

Conditional Commitment.
Credit Underwriting – Preliminary/Final Submission

Steps for Underwriting Submissions:

1. Select either Request Credit Report 

and Preliminary Underwriting, 

Request Underwriting Only or 

Request Final Underwriting and 

Submission to Rural Development.

2. To Manually Downgrade an 

Application, select the checkbox below 

that header and provide an 

explanation for the downgrade.

3. Click the Submit button to submit 

underwriting request.

Notes: 

• Preliminary and Final Submission selections will invoke the preliminary and final loan application validations, respectively. These are the same validations that are invoked when the 

user selects the Validate Application button.

• Once a loan is submitted for Final Underwritings, the file becomes read only and is no longer editable.
Credit Underwriting –Final Submission Requirements

Final Submission Requirements

• All borrowers must have a Credit Report Status of “Complete” on the Credit Underwriting page 

following a successful credit report request. 

• The user submitting the application must be from an authorized branch of their organization to 

submit the loan.

• If the property and income eligibility, HUD TOTAL Scorecard, GLS or FICO interfaces are offline, the 

user will be unable to do a final underwriting submission and transfer the file to USDA Rural 

Development until the service(s) return(s) online.

• If a borrower is missing a Borrower ID and the interface to retrieve it is offline, the user will be 

unable to do a final underwriting submission and transfer the file to USDA Rural Development until 

the site returns online.

• The application must receive a summary eligibility recommendation other than “INELIGIBLE” from 

Rural Development.
Releasing an Application to Lender (only for Broker/Lender Agent)

If you are a Broker or Lender 

Agent, you have the ability to 

release a loan application back to 

the Lender for further processing. 

To release a loan application back 

to the lender, the user should:

1. Select Release Control of 

Application to the Lender 

from the Select Request You 

Would Like to Submit dropdown.

2. Select the Submit button.

3. When the Confirmation 

Submission message appears, 

select OK to confirm the 

release of the loan back to the 

Lender or Cancel to stop the 

process.
View Findings

Steps for View Findings tab:

1. Navigate to View Findings tab. 

User can scroll the length of 

the page to view all pertinent 

information or:

2. The user may click on one of 

the sub-tabs: GUS 

Underwriting Findings Report, 

GUS Underwriting Analysis 

Report or GUS Credit Report 

to navigate directly to that 

section of View Findings.

3. Use the Print Sections button 

to obtain a system generated 

PDF of the View Findings 

reports. The Print Sections 

button is located to the right 

side of the screen and shows 

as a printer icon.
View Findings – Underwriting Summary

The first section of the Underwriting Findings Report 

is the Underwriting Summary. 

The first part of the Underwriting Summary is the 

Underwriting Recommendation which confirms 

through analysis of data entered/retrieved if the 

mortgage loan application meets credit and capacity 

to repay and is eligible for USDA Rural Development. 

The credit risk assessment will arrive at one of the 

underwriting recommendations described below.

• ACCEPT

• ACCEPT WITH FULL DOCUMENTATION

• REFER

• REFER WITH CAUTION

• INELIGIBLE

• UNABLE TO DETERMINE

The next part of the Underwriting Recommendation 

summarizes Rural Development’s requirements 

around property, income, loan, and borrower for 

eligibility and will result in a recommendation of:

• ELIGIBLE

• INELIGIBLE

• UNABLE TO DETERMINE
View Findings – Mortgage Information Purchase

This section of the View Findings tab covers 

the important mortgage related data in 

underwriting analysis.
View Findings – Mortgage Information Refinance 

This section of the View Findings tab covers 

the important mortgage related data in 

underwriting analysis.
View Findings – Property Information

Property Information section of the View 

Findings tab.

This section confirms the “Property 

Address” and “Property Eligibility 

Summary.” There are four possible 

summary messages: 

• Subject property is in an ELIGIBLE area. 

The system will indicate “Subject 

property is located in an eligible area.”

• Subject property is in an INELIGIBLE

area. The system will indicate “Subject 

property is located in an ineligible 

area.”

• System is UNABLE TO DETERMINE

property eligibility based on current 

property information. The system will 

indicate “System unable to determine 

property eligibility based on current 

property information.” 

• Subject property eligibility is 

UNKNOWN. The system will indicate 

“Property Eligibility is unknown.”
View Findings – Income Eligibility Information

At the bottom of the section is the Income 

Eligibility determination summary and findings. An 

income eligibility determination message will be 

listed at the top of the text box followed by 

findings returned by Rural Development, if 

applicable. 

• If the application’s income eligibility 

determination is ELIGIBLE, the system 

displays “Applicant is eligible based on 

income criteria.”

• If the application’s income eligibility 

determination is INELIGIBLE, the system 

displays “Applicant is ineligible based on 

income criteria.” 

• If the application’s income eligibility 

determination is UNABLE TO DETERMINE,

the system displays “System unable to 

determine applicant income eligibility.”

• If the value is UNKNOWN, the system 

displays “Applicant income eligibility is 

unknown.“
View Findings – Loan/Applicant Eligibility 

The “Loan/Applicant Eligibility” 

section of GUS will display program 

eligibility findings specific to 

individual applicants and the loan 

parameters as a whole.

Lenders should review this section 

carefully as it may list specific 

eligibility factors identified by GUS 

that directly contributed to the 

“Underwriting Recommendation” 

message portion regarding 

eligibility (Eligible, Ineligible, or 

Unable to Determine). 

Results will vary per applicant. 

Review each finding.
View Findings – Loan/Applicant Risk

The “Loan/Applicant Risk” section 

of GUS will display program 

eligibility risk specific to individual 

applicants and the loan parameters 

as a whole.

Lenders should review this section 

carefully as it may list specific risk 

factors identified by GUS that 

directly contributed to the 

“Underwriting Recommendation.” 

Results will vary per applicant. 

Review each finding.
View Findings – Lender’s Required Conditions

The Lender’s Required Conditions section 

specifically states what steps the lender must take 

to complete the file prior to each of the following 

stages: 

• Final Submission

• Conditional Commitment

• Closing

• Guarantee

The “Lender’s Required Conditions” includes any 

items identified during the loan evaluation analysis 

performed by GUS, regarding the credit, capacity, 

and collateral of the loan application. Lenders 

should carefully review each finding requirement 

to ensure true, accurate, and complete data. Each 

condition should be addressed in the lender’s 

permanent loan file.

If there are no Lender Required Conditions for a 

given stage, then the system displays “There are no 

Lender Required Conditions Prior to (Stage).” 

where (Stage) is “Final Submission,” “Conditional 

Commitment,” “Closing” or “Guarantee.”
View Findings – Borrower/Co-Borrower GUS/GLS Comparison

The Borrower/Co-Borrower 

GUS/GLS Comparison section of 

the View Findings tab notes any 

differences between borrower 

data entered on the application 

and data from existing 

applications in GLS. 

The section notes “Differences 

Between Specific 

Borrower/Attribute” in a table 

that includes the borrower’s name 

in the “Borrower” element, 

relevant application page in “GUS 

Page Association,” data element 

name in “Name of Attribute(s),” 

application value in “GUS Data” 

and GLS value in “GLS Data.” 
View Findings – Rural Development’s Required Conditions

The Rural Development’s Required 

Conditions section of the View Findings 

tab specifically states what conditions that 

USDA Rural Development requires prior to 

each of the following stages: 

• Final Submission

• Conditional Commitment

• Closing

• Guarantee

Lenders should carefully review each 

finding requirement to ensure true, 

accurate, and complete data. Each 

condition should be addressed in the 

lender’s permanent loan file.

If there are no Rural Development 

Required Conditions Prior to for a given 

stage, then the system displays “There are 

no USDA Required Conditions Prior to 

(Stage).” where (Stage) is “Final 

Submission,” “Conditional Commitment,” 

“Closing” or “Guarantee.”
View Findings – GUS Underwriting Analysis Report (Property Information)

The GUS Underwriting Analysis Report 

contains key information used in 

determining the recommendation 

including borrower, property, and loan 

information.

This section is the first under the GUS 

Underwriting Analysis Report and 

reviews property-related data entered 

into the loan application.
View Findings – GUS Underwriting Analysis Report (Repayment Income)

The Repayment Income details portion 

of the GUS Underwriting Analysis 

Report are listed by borrower and may 

vary from eligibility income. Base, 

Overtime, Bonus, Commission, 

Military Entitlements, Other Income, 

Self-Employed Income (Monthly 

Income/Loss) and Income from Other 

Sources are from the Borrower screen. 

Net Rental Income is the sum of 

positive rental income from the Real 

Estate field for a given borrower. 

The section provides a Grand Total at 

the bottom of the section, and a 

subtotal Total Repayment Income per 

borrower. Borrowers are listed in the 

order they are entered on the 

Borrower screen.
View Findings – GUS Underwriting Analysis Report (Monthly Expenses)

This section outlines the total 

“Housing Expenses – Proposed” 

and “Other Expenses.” 

Each section is sub-totaled at the 

end of the section.
View Findings – GUS Underwriting Analysis Report (Funds to Close/Post 

Closing Cash Reserves)

The Funds to Close section will 

calculate the funds needed to close as 

well as the funds available, entered 

into GUS.

• Cash From the Borrower/Cash To 

the Borrower 

• Mortgage Debt to be Paid by Closing 

• Total Funds 

• Funds Available

The Post Closing Cash Reserves section 

provides details related to the cash 

reserves. 

• Cash Reserves 

• Months of Cash Reserves
View Findings – GUS Credit Report/Credit Report Summary

The GUS Credit Report/Credit Report 

Summary section is the third and final 

section of the View Findings tab and 

summarizes key statistics from the issued 

credit report. 

This section provides a summary of and a 

link to each credit report that was returned 

for the request. 

This is the only section that will populate if 

an application has not been submitted for 

underwriting.

Select the Click to View/Print Credit 

Report hyperlink to access the retrieved 

credit report.

The Credit Report Summary section 

provides the Credit Score(s) utilized in the 

GUS recommendation and the associated 

Credit Repository for each borrower. These 

values are returned by the HUD service.

Select the Print button to print the entire 

View Findings section. 
End Slide 

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