The process that is failing for me: in a refi, I have to meet criteria and parameters to make a loan worthwhile to the borrower just like all of you do. I present a scenario to the borrower that they like, and then I am anxious to get a good approval and a good lock that will work.

I can do all of that, and I do my best to look at lender timeframes, and pick out a lock period that is going to work based on those timeframes. I have learned that unfortunately, I even have to pencil in a little extra in the GFE in case there are extension days required. This is difficult to do, because the more you pencil in to cover, the worse your rate and costs look to the competition's pricing.. but to avoid surprises later... what else can be done...?

Now, we are in a spot out of control... appraisal, etc. handled by lender, and if the market is moving against their lock, the slower it seems to go... and docs, and conditions, and funding.. until eventually extensions and additional extensions are required - they seem to move fastest when its in their favor to do so, and blame the workload when they need it to go slower. "Best execution SHOULD mean that THEY, not us, should be responsible that if they are willing to lock for 25 days, then if we respond quickly n- THEY should be responsible for extensions, not us or our clients!