Gift letters, explanations and broker agreements, signed without the fax
A loan file collects signatures from more people than the borrower: a parent signing a gift letter, a co-borrower in another state, an employer confirming a start date. Most of those aren't the lender's disclosures, which your loan origination system already handles, but the side documents that hold up conditions. SignMaster gets those signed and returned with the uploads underwriting asked for, often the same day.
Updated November 5, 2026 · 3 min read
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Where SignMaster fits in a loan file
| Document | Who signs | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Broker or fee agreement | The borrower | SignMaster, at application |
| Authorization to pull credit | Each borrower | SignMaster, before the first pull |
| Gift letter | The donor and the borrower | SignMaster, in signing order |
| Letter of explanation | The borrower | SignMaster, when underwriting asks |
| Loan Estimate and lender disclosures | The borrower | Your LOS or the lender's portal |
| Note, deed of trust or mortgage | The borrower, often before a notary | The closing, with the title or escrow company |
Keep the regulated disclosures where they are: your LOS and lenders build them to meet federal timing and format rules. Use SignMaster for the paperwork around them, and leave closing documents to the closing.
Gift letters with the donor in another state
- 1
Fill the letter from the file
Open your gift letter template and fill the borrower, the property address, the gift amount and the donor's relationship. The amount and address can be fixed text boxes so nobody edits them.
- 2
Donor first, borrower second
Set signing in order. The donor gets the link, confirms the money is a gift with no repayment expected, fills in their contact details and uploads the bank statement showing the transfer. Then the borrower signs.
- 3
Send it to the processor
Both signers and you get the sealed PDF with a certificate of completion: who signed, when, from which IP address and email. Drop it into the loan file to clear the condition.
Letters of explanation, without the back-and-forth
Underwriting asks why there's a credit inquiry from March, a gap in employment or a large deposit. Keep a letter of explanation template with a long text field for the borrower's own words, a file upload for supporting documents and a signature. Send it from your phone the minute the condition comes in. The borrower writes, attaches and signs on their phone without an account, and the answer is back before the next status call.
Protect the sensitive ones
Add an access code that SignMaster emails the borrower, or a code you give them by phone, before a document with account numbers opens. Black out any numbers you don't need with redaction before you send.
Rules worth knowing
When a law requires you to give a consumer something in writing, the ESIGN Act lets you deliver it electronically only after the consumer consents to electronic records. SignMaster asks every signer for that consent before they sign. Whether a particular lender or investor accepts e-signatures on a given form is their call, so check the lender's guidelines, and see can you e-sign a mortgage.
Borrowers can read the signing page, emails and e-signature consent in 6 languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese and Simplified Chinese. The documents themselves stay as you wrote them.
Pricing for a brokerage
A single loan officer can use Solo at $15 a month with unlimited envelopes. Crew is $49 a month for 5 people, so loan officers and processors share templates, and it adds webhooks to pass signed documents to other tools. New workspaces get 14 days of Crew free. See every plan.
What SignMaster doesn't do
- It isn't a loan origination system and doesn't produce Loan Estimates or Closing Disclosures.
- It doesn't notarize or run remote online notarization.
- It doesn't pull credit or verify identity with ID checks.
- It emails signing links. Copy a borrower's link to text it yourself.
Questions? Answers.
Can a gift letter be signed electronically?
Usually, yes, as long as the lender accepts e-signatures. Send it with the donor and the borrower as signers in order, and attach the donor's bank statement with an Attachment field.
Can I use SignMaster for closing documents?
No. Notes and security instruments are signed at closing, often with a notary, through the title or escrow company. SignMaster doesn't notarize.
Can borrowers upload documents when they sign?
Yes. Add Attachment fields for pay stubs, bank statements or an explanation's supporting papers. Uploads stay with the envelope.
Do co-borrowers sign separately?
Yes. Add each borrower as a signer and choose whether they sign at the same time or one after the other. Each gets their own link.
Sources
- 15 U.S.C. § 7001: General rule of validity (ESIGN Act) · law.cornell.edu