The pre-approval workflow inside BNTouch lives in two places: the borrower-facing pre-approval request form in the dashboard tab, and the LO-facing pre-approval sub-tab inside the mortgages tab where loan officers send out pre-approval letters. The system supports two letter paths (send with structured loan values populated, or send via free-form email with attached pre-approval file), automatically pulls borrower details into the letter, and lets you choose a stationery template from the docs library so every letter looks branded.
The pre-approval workflow starts on the borrower side. “[The borrower-facing pre-approval feature can be found in the dashboard tab when a client or partner first logs in]”. The borrower enters their required information (income, assets, requested loan amount, property type) and submits. The request lands inside the CRM on that borrower’s pre-approval sub-tab.
“Your partners can also access this feature in their partner portal”. So a realtor partner can initiate pre-approval requests on behalf of buyers they are working with, and the requests flow back to you with partner attribution captured.
The LO side: viewing pre-approval requests
From the loan officer side, every pre-approval request lives on the borrower’s record. “In your CRM you can check a client’s pre-approval information by opening the mortgages tab, then clicking the client’s name to open their record. There click the pre-approval sub-tab to see a list of any pre-approval requests”.
So the list of pending and completed pre-approvals is one click away from the borrower’s main record. Easy to see at a glance what stage every active borrower is at.
Sending a pre-approval letter
The send-letter button is the action that moves the file forward. “Just click the send pre-approval letter button to the right. You can then enter the loan amount, max price, and down payment, as well as choose who to send the pre-approval to, including the borrower, a co-borrower if applicable, [or any participating partner]”.
Three structured fields drive the letter: loan amount, max price, down payment. The system uses these to generate the pre-approval letter with the correct numbers baked in. You can also include co-borrowers and partners on the recipient list so the buying agent gets a copy at the same time.
What auto-populates and what you can edit
“[The letter] will automatically populate. You can still change or add anything, modify the email template, or attach files to the message, just like any other email sent from your CRM”.
So the letter is not a rigid form. The structured loan values populate the letter automatically, but the message body, the email template, and the attachments are fully editable. If you want to add a personal note (“congrats on the offer accepted, let’s get you across the finish line”), you do that in the same step.
Two send paths to know about
The workflow supports two distinct send paths.
Structured loan-values letter
The default path: fill in loan amount, max price, down payment; the system generates the pre-approval letter with those values; you click send. Best for standard pre-approvals where the numbers are confirmed.
Free-form letter with attached pre-approval file
“You will be brought to an email editor without any mortgage loan values listed. You can enter these details manually or attach a pre-approval file to this message, then send it exactly as before. This type of request will still [appear on the pre-approval list]”. Best for cases where you have a PDF pre-approval letter generated outside BNTouch (e.g., from your LOS or a compliance-controlled letter template) that you want to attach as a file rather than have BNTouch generate the body from scratch.
Both paths log the pre-approval send on the borrower’s record, so the audit trail stays consistent regardless of which path you use.
Choosing a stationery template
One detail that elevates the letter from “looks like an email” to “looks like a branded document.” “The document files listed here can be accessed in the marketing tab under docs library. Here you can also choose the stationery template for the pre-approval email that you send using the email pre-approval wording template menu”.
Translation: you can set a default stationery template for every pre-approval letter so the brokerage’s branding shows up consistently. Brokerages with multiple loan officers can have each LO set their own stationery (logo, signature, contact info) so the letter looks personalized while staying on-brand.
A specific scenario: instant pre-approval on a hot lead
You get a Facebook lead form submission on a Tuesday morning. The lead enters their income, assets, and a $400K purchase target through the borrower-facing pre-approval form. The request lands on the borrower record inside BNTouch with all the data populated.
You open the record, click the pre-approval sub-tab, see the request, and click send pre-approval letter. You confirm $400K max price, 5% down ($20K), conventional 30-year. The letter generates with the brokerage stationery template, you add a one-line personal note, and click send. The borrower gets the pre-approval letter on their phone within 90 seconds of submitting the form.
Speed-to-pre-approval at that scale is what separates teams that close Facebook leads from teams that lose them to faster competitors. The workflow inside BNTouch is built to make this possible.
Honest limits
Pre-approval is a soft underwriting representation, not a commitment. The letter generated through this workflow uses the values you input. Make sure your team understands the difference between a pre-qualification letter (informational) and a conditional approval (with credit pulled and verified). The workflow does not enforce that distinction; your underwriting process does.
Stationery templates need to be set up first. If you do not see a template option, your account does not have a stationery template configured. Create one in the marketing tab under docs library first.
The borrower-facing form is gated by portal access. Borrowers who have not been invited to the borrower portal cannot use the request form. Send the portal invite as part of the new-lead workflow.
Auto-population pulls from CRM fields, not LOS. If your LOS has more current data than BNTouch on a borrower, you may need to refresh the record before generating the letter to avoid stale values.
See the pre-approval workflow on a live record
To see the borrower-facing request form and the LO send-letter workflow on a sandbox account, request a demo. The borrower portal page covers where the request form lives for clients.
