A rate quote and a commitment letter aren't the same document, and treating a commitment as a formality to forward straight to the client is how a mismatch on charge type, prepayment privileges, or a condition deadline slips through until it's a problem at closing. The commitment is the lender's actual offer, and it deserves the same scrutiny a broker would give any contract before a client signs it.
FSRA's own file reviews have found this is a genuine, common gap — disclosure documents that simply say “see commitment” without the referenced information actually being present, and unclear terms and conditions in nearly a third of the private-mortgage files reviewed. This checklist works whether the commitment is coming from a bank, monoline, credit union, B lender, or private lender.
What should a broker confirm about rate and rate hold on the commitment?
Confirm the rate on the commitment matches what was quoted, and check the rate hold expiry date against the closing timeline — most lenders hold for 90 to 120 days, though some go shorter or longer. If the closing date is close to the rate hold expiry, confirm what happens if closing slips: a re-pull, a re-approval, or simply the loss of the held rate.
For variable-rate commitments, confirm whether the rate floats immediately on funding or is fixed for an initial period, since client expectations set at application don't always match what actually prints on the commitment.
Why does the charge type on the commitment actually matter?
Confirm whether the mortgage is registered as a standard charge or a collateral charge. A collateral charge can make future borrowing against the property cheaper, but it can also make switching lenders at renewal more expensive and complicated — a detail worth flagging to the client at commitment stage, not at the next renewal.
Check the annual prepayment privilege — the lump-sum percentage allowed and any payment-increase option — against what was represented earlier in the process. Prepayment terms vary meaningfully by lender and are one of the more common places a verbal understanding and the actual commitment diverge.
How is the prepayment penalty actually calculated on this commitment?
Confirm whether a fixed-rate penalty is calculated using a posted-rate interest rate differential or a discount-rate method — the posted-rate version can produce a materially larger penalty for the same early payout. This is a lender-specific formula, not a standard one across the industry, so it has to be read on the actual commitment or standard charge terms rather than assumed.
This is the single most common source of client surprise at renewal or early payout. Flag the penalty formula clearly at commitment stage, in writing, so a client considering an early sale or refinance later isn't hearing the real number for the first time from the lender.
What should a broker check on the conditions themselves?
List every condition on the commitment against the file's actual document status — confirm which are already satisfied, which are outstanding, and the deadline for each. A condition with an unrealistic deadline given the file's current stage needs a call to the lender before the client signs, not after the deadline is missed.
The Condition-Clearing Playbook covers the workflow for clearing conditions once the commitment is accepted; this review is what confirms the condition list itself is complete and realistic before that workflow starts.
What disclosure has to be confirmed before signing?
Confirm the cost-of-borrowing disclosure is actually present in the package — written directly into the disclosure document or with a precise pointer to exactly where it appears in the standard charge terms — not a general reference the borrower would have to hunt for. Confirm the brokerage's role is clearly disclosed, and that any conflict of interest, including a relationship to the lender, has been disclosed in writing and acknowledged.
For private-lender commitments specifically, confirm independent legal advice has been arranged before the client signs — see the Private Lender Submission Package checklist for the full disclosure and ILA requirements on that file type.
Where does fulfillment support fit into commitment review?
A thorough commitment review takes time a broker mid-pipeline often doesn't have between client calls. Treadstone's fulfillment associates run this line-by-line check as a standard step before a commitment goes to the client, catching the rate, charge-type, and condition mismatches before they become a signature away from being locked in.