U.S. Mortgage Index

What can I do if I never received a Loan Estimate?

Short answer

If you applied and did not get a within three business days, ask the lender whether it was sent and when. The CFPB says the lender must send the form in that window unless it denied the application first. Some loan types use other disclosures instead of a Loan Estimate.

Full explanation

The CFPB says a lender must send a Loan Estimate within three business days after receiving a mortgage application. If the form did not arrive in that window, contact the lender and ask whether it was sent and on what date. Receiving the form, when it does arrive, is a preview of terms and is not itself an approval.

The lender does not have to provide a Loan Estimate if it denies the application before the end of the third business day after receiving it. If a lender will not send the form and the application was not denied in that window, the CFPB lists working with another lender or using its complaint channel as available next steps.

A Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure are not used for reverse mortgages, home equity lines of credit, manufactured-housing or mobile-home loans that are not secured by real estate, or certain subordinate loans from homebuyer-assistance programs. Those products use Truth-in-Lending disclosures, and a reverse mortgage also uses a Good Faith Estimate and a HUD-1 or HUD-1A settlement statement.

Sources reviewed

Last reviewed

September 10, 2026