Online loan qualification and processing method

A method whereby consumers can interactively and directly process a loan request over the Internet through progressive information collection, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing an Internet web site accessible by a consumer interested in receiving a loan, wherein the web site is capable of receiving information from the consumer and provide the consumer with tasks as a loan request is processed;
• creating a consumer database associated with the consumer;
• a first stage comprising
• prompting the consumer to provide a first set of loan information;
• populating a consumer database with the first set of loan information;
• obtaining authorization from the consumer to access an external credit report associated with the consumer;
• based on said first set of loan information, automatically accessing via the Internet a first credit report associated with said consumer and generated by a first external credit bureau;
• automatically evaluating said first credit report to determine credit worthiness of the consumer;
• a second stage comprising:
• based on the evaluation of said credit report, prompting the consumer to provide a second set of loan information;
• updating the consumer database to include the second set of loan information;
• based on said second set of loan information, automatically determining what external loan programs are available to the consumer;
• prompting the consumer to select a specific loan program from the available loan programs previously determined based on the second set of loan information;
• making a first internal determination as to whether the second set of loan information satisfies underwriting guidelines associated with the specific loan program;
• a third stage comprising:
• based on the first internal evaluation, prompting the consumer to provide a third set of loan information, wherein said loan information includes documentation to support the loan request;
• updating the consumer database to include the third set of loan information;
• creating a loan file based on foregoing loan information;
• upon completion of the foregoing tasks, forwarding the loan file to the outside banking institution;
• and
• creating a task list associated with at least one step of the stages, wherein the step of creating a task list comprises:
• Creating a task database of tasks commonly associated with a loan,
• Identifying a specific task required in the requested loan process;
• Identifying the data necessary to complete a specific task;
• Comparing the data necessary to complete a specific task with the data in the consumer database;
• Retrieving from an external third party database available external data necessary to complete a specific task;
• Generating a task list that sets forth each task for which data necessary to complete the task does not appear in the consumer database or from available external data;
• Associating the task list with the consumer database;
• and
• Presenting the task list to the consumer at the web site.