When your loan status says “in progress,” it means the lender has received your application and is actively working through it, but hasn’t reached a final decision. The label is a catch-all. Your file could be sitting with an automated system running a credit check, waiting on a human underwriter, or paused because a document you uploaded was unreadable. It signals neither approval nor denial — only that the file is open and moving.
Understanding what happens during this phase, how long it should take, and what can slow it down puts you in a much better position to keep things on track.
What the Lender Is Actually Doing
Once your application enters the pipeline, it generally moves through three stages. They can overlap or run in parallel depending on the lender’s systems, but each has a distinct job.
Credit Screening
The first step is a hard pull of your credit report. Federal law lets lenders access your credit file when you apply for a loan, and the report gives them your payment history, outstanding debts, and overall credit profile.1Federal Trade Commission. A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act Automated systems compare your score against the lender’s minimums and flag anything unusual, like recent collections or a high number of open accounts. This usually happens within minutes of submission.
The hard inquiry typically shaves fewer than five points off your score. The effect fades within a year, though the inquiry itself stays on your report for two. If you’re rate-shopping, most scoring models treat inquiries for the same type of loan within a 14-to-45-day window as one inquiry.
Income and Employment Verification
Next, the lender confirms that your income and employment details match what you reported. Pay stubs, tax documents, and bank statements get cross-referenced against each other, and if anything doesn’t line up, the lender digs deeper before moving forward.2Fannie Mae. Best Practices for Income and Employment Verifications Self-employed applicants often hit a bottleneck here, since verifying business income takes more manual work than confirming a salaried job.
Underwriting
Underwriting is where the lender (or an algorithm, for simpler loans) decides whether you’re a good bet. The underwriter evaluates your debt-to-income ratio, cash reserves, the loan amount relative to any collateral, and the overall risk profile. For mortgages, this stage also involves reviewing the property appraisal. Most files spend the bulk of their processing time here.
How Long “In Progress” Usually Lasts
The timeline varies dramatically by loan type. Mortgages are slowest because of appraisals, title work, and regulatory layers. Personal loans and auto loans move faster because there’s less to verify.
Mortgages
A typical purchase mortgage runs about 42 days from application to closing, according to ICE Mortgage Technology data from late 2025. Refinances can take slightly longer because many lenders prioritize purchase loans. Certain factors extend the timeline: self-employment income, multiple properties, large or unusual deposits in your bank accounts, or a property that appraises below the purchase price. Under those conditions, budget for 50 to 60 days.
Watch your rate lock. Most lenders offer 30, 45, or 60-day lock periods.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What’s a Lock-In or a Rate Lock on a Mortgage If processing drags past the expiration, you’ll either pay for an extension or take the current market rate.
Personal Loans
Online lenders can approve a personal loan and deposit funds within the same day. Some give a decision in under a minute. Banks and credit unions tend to take longer, sometimes up to a week for the approval alone, with funding arriving one to five business days after that. The difference comes down to how automated the lender’s systems are.
Auto Loans
Dealership financing often produces a decision within minutes because the dealer submits your application to multiple lenders at once. Direct auto loans from banks or credit unions typically take one to three business days for approval, with funding following the vehicle purchase. Auto refinance loans take longer because the new lender has to pay off the existing loan and handle a title transfer, which can add several weeks depending on your state.
What Commonly Stalls an Application
Incomplete or illegible documents are the single most common reason a file stops moving. Most applications require some combination of the following:
- W-2s for the past two years, or recent pay stubs showing year-to-date earnings.
- Tax returns, and for mortgages, often IRS transcripts through Form 4506-C. Leave a required field blank or forget to sign, and the IRS will reject the form, freezing your application until it’s resubmitted. The IRS also rejects any 4506-C received more than 120 days after the signature date.4Internal Revenue Service. Form 4506-C IVES Request for Transcript of Tax Return5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Income Verification Express Service IVES FAQs
- A government-issued photo ID and your Social Security number, which satisfy customer identification requirements financial institutions must follow.6FFIEC BSA/AML Manual. Customer Identification Program
- Recent statements for existing debts like car payments, student loans, and credit cards.
Self-employed applicants should expect requests for two years of business tax returns with applicable schedules, a year-to-date profit and loss statement, and sometimes a balance sheet. The lender wants to establish that your income is stable and ongoing, which is harder to prove without an employer confirming a salary.
Letters of Explanation
If something in your file raises a flag, the lender will ask for a letter of explanation. Common triggers include employment gaps, large deposits or withdrawals, late payments on your credit report, and recent credit inquiries from other lenders. State what happened, when, and why, and attach supporting documents when you can. A job gap is much easier to accept alongside an offer letter and recent pay stubs from your current employer.
Don’t treat these requests as optional. A missing letter of explanation stalls a file just as effectively as a missing tax return. Respond within a day or two, since the underwriter can’t move forward without it.
Conditional Approval: Close, but Not Done
Many applications pass through a conditional approval stage before a final decision. The underwriter has reviewed your file and is willing to approve the loan, but needs a few more items first. Common conditions include an updated bank statement, proof of homeowners insurance, an explanation letter for unusual financial activity, or a satisfactory appraisal.
How quickly you clear these conditions controls how fast the loan closes. Some are within your control. Others, like the appraisal, depend on third parties. Once every condition is satisfied, the underwriter issues a “clear to close,” meaning the loan is fully approved. Closing typically follows within one to two weeks.
Your Rights While the Loan Is in Progress
Federal law puts some deadlines on the lender while your file is under review.
For mortgage applications, the lender must deliver a Loan Estimate to you no later than three business days after receiving your application.7eCFR. 12 CFR 1026.19 – Certain Mortgage and Variable-Rate Transactions It lays out your estimated interest rate, monthly payment, closing costs, and other loan terms. If your status shows “in progress” and no Loan Estimate has arrived within three business days, contact the lender.8Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure FAQs Personal loans and auto loans aren’t covered by this specific mortgage disclosure rule, though most lenders still provide upfront terms at or near the time of application.
Before a mortgage closes, you’ll receive a Closing Disclosure at least three business days ahead of the closing date.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Should I Do If I Do Not Get a Closing Disclosure Three Days Before My Mortgage Closing Compare it against the Loan Estimate. If the numbers changed significantly, ask why before you sign.
Regardless of loan type, lenders must notify you of their decision within 30 days after receiving your completed application. That applies to approvals, counteroffers, and denials.10eCFR. 12 CFR 1002.9 – Notifications If you’re denied, the notice must come in writing and include either the specific reasons or a statement that you have 60 days to request them.11Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1002.9 Notifications The notice must also identify the federal agency that oversees the lender’s compliance, and if a credit report played a role, name the credit bureau that supplied it and explain how to get a free copy. These are legal requirements under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
When “In Progress” Isn’t Moving
Most lenders provide an online portal for checking your status. Some show exactly which department has your file; others just toggle between “in progress,” “conditionally approved,” and “approved.” Check it regularly, since document requests sometimes appear there before any email lands.
If nothing has changed in more than a week, call your loan officer. A stalled file usually means the lender is waiting on something from you or a third party like an appraiser or employer, and a quick phone call identifies the holdup. Be direct: ask what the next step is, who’s responsible, and when you should expect movement.
For applications that seem genuinely stuck with no communication, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accepts complaints about mortgage and loan products at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. Filing a complaint creates an official record and prompts the lender to respond, though calling the loan officer first almost always resolves the issue faster.