How to fill out the mortgage application for a California home
Almost every home loan in the United States, California included, starts with the same form: the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA), which Fannie Mae calls Form 1003 and Freddie Mac calls Form 65. There is no separate California application. The current edition, effective 1/2021, has nine sections for each borrower, and the lender adds its own Lender Loan Information pages. This guide goes through the sections in order, says what papers each one needs, and points out the few places where a California home changes the answer. It is general information, not legal or financial advice; your lender's instructions come first.
At a glance
- Form Uniform Residential Loan Application, Fannie Mae Form 1003 / Freddie Mac Form 65
- Issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; current edition effective 1/2021
- Who fills it Each borrower; the lender completes the Lender Loan Information
- Sections Nine, from Borrower Information to Loan Originator Information
- Filed with it Supplemental Consumer Information Form (Form 1103), required since March 1, 2023
- Catalog forms Form 1003, Uniform Residential Loan Application
- Form categories Mortgage forms, Loan application forms
The parts of the application
Fannie Mae publishes the form, its instructions and the add-ons. Two parts are required on every loan, the rest only when they apply:
| Part | Who fills it | When |
|---|---|---|
| Borrower Information (Sections 1–9) | Each borrower | Always |
| Lender Loan Information (L1–L4) | The lender | Always |
| Additional Borrower | A co-borrower who shares the main borrower's form | As needed |
| Unmarried Addendum | A borrower who checked Unmarried, when state property law makes a partner's rights matter | As needed |
| Continuation Sheet | Anyone who runs out of room | As needed |
Since March 1, 2023, loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also need the Supplemental Consumer Information Form (Form 1103), which asks about homeownership education, housing counseling and your preferred language.
Section by section
Section 1, Borrower Information. Your name, Social Security number, citizenship, marital status, dependents, and two years of addresses (a former address is required when you have been at the current one less than two years). Then current employment with gross monthly income split into base, overtime, bonus and commission, plus additional and previous jobs and income from other sources. Have your recent pay stubs and W-2s, or, if self-employed, your tax returns.
Section 2, Assets and Liabilities. Every bank, retirement and investment account with its value, other assets and credits such as earnest money, and every debt that is not real estate: cards, car and student loans, leases, alimony and child support. Your latest statements answer most of it.
Section 3, Real Estate. Each property you own, its value, whether it is sold, pending sale or retained, and its mortgages. Refinancing? List that property first.
Section 4, Loan and Property Information. The loan amount, purpose, property address, value and occupancy. Section 4b takes any other new loan on the same property, 4c the expected rent on a 2–4 unit or investment purchase, and 4d gifts and grants.
Section 5, Declarations. Yes/no questions on the property and your money (5a) and your finances (5b): borrowed down payment funds, new credit before closing, judgments, federal debt, lawsuits, and foreclosure, short sale or bankruptcy within 7 years.
Section 6, Acknowledgments and Agreements. What you agree to by signing, including that the information is true.
Section 7, Military Service, for you or a deceased spouse, Section 8, Demographic Information, which federal law requires the lender to ask but you are not required to answer, and Section 9, Loan Originator Information, which the loan officer fills in.
What changes for a California home
Community property. The Lender Loan Information asks whether a borrower lives in, or the property is in, a community property state. California is one: property a married person acquires during the marriage while living here is community property (Family Code 760). For a California home, the lender checks this box.
Domestic partners. California registers domestic partnerships, which is the case the Unmarried Addendum was written for: if you checked Unmarried in Section 1 and have a registered partner, expect the lender to ask for it.
PACE liens. Declaration 5a.E asks whether the property will carry a lien that can take priority over the first mortgage, such as a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) assessment paid through property taxes. If a California property you are buying or refinancing has solar or energy work financed through its tax bill, the answer is yes.
CalHFA down payment help. CalHFA's MyHome Assistance is a deferred-payment junior loan, not a grant, of up to 3.5% of the price on a CalHFA FHA loan or 3% on a conventional one, for first-time buyers who complete homebuyer education. As a second loan on the home it goes in Section 4b, not with the gifts in 4d. CalHFA does not lend directly; you apply through an approved lender.
To fill in the form from your own pay stubs, statements and tax returns, the Form 1003 page on Instafill.ai completes the Uniform Residential Loan Application for you to check before you hand it to your lender.
