What paperwork does my buyer’s lender accept after basement repair?

The full picture

Buyer’s lenders — especially conventional, FHA, and VA — are conservative about anything that hints at structural risk or mold. They want defensible documentation in the loan file. The good news: the documentation they accept is consistent across nearly every lender we’ve dealt with in CT and NY.

The three documents

1. Third-party post-treatment clearance test (mold).

An independent tester — not us — takes air samples after remediation and compares them against an outdoor control. The lab report shows spore counts within normal range. This is the single most important document for mold work because lenders won’t accept self-clearance from the remediating contractor. We schedule the third-party tester and roll their cost into your written estimate so there’s no surprise.

2. Written, transferable warranty (waterproofing or foundation repair).

Lenders want to know the repair is warrantied and that the warranty survives the sale. A non-transferable warranty protects you but offers the buyer nothing — lenders treat it as zero value. A transferable warranty in writing, listing the buyer’s name and the property address, is what they want in the file. Our waterproofing warranty is lifetime and transferable; our foundation repair warranties carry industry-standard transferable terms specific to the repair method.

3. Contractor’s letter on letterhead.

A signed letter documenting: scope of work, materials installed, dates of work, the foundation/area addressed, and a statement that the work was completed in accordance with applicable code. Lenders use this to confirm the repair matches the inspection report and the appraisal. We write one of these on every relevant job.

Documents lenders sometimes ask for as add-ons

• Itemized invoice. We provide one on request.
• Permit copy. Required by some lenders for foundation work. We pull permits where code requires; if your job didn’t require one, we’ll explain why in writing.
• Engineer’s letter. Lenders occasionally request this for structural foundation findings. We coordinate with licensed PEs in CT and NY as needed.
• Before/after photos. Always useful, never harmful. We document every job photographically.

What we won’t do

We won’t backdate paperwork. We won’t test our own mold work and call it third-party. We won’t write a letter that misrepresents the scope of what was actually done. Every document we sign is something the lender, the appraiser, and a future home inspector can independently verify against the work itself. That’s the only kind of paperwork worth having — the kind that holds up.