This decision tree belongs to the loan document exception closure guide. It answers a single question for document automation consultants: inside a lender, who can say yes to a conversation about its closing exception history?
Who holds the records, and why holding is not deciding
A consultant who has worked on document generation or e-sign rollout usually knows the people who run the systems. Each holds a piece of the exception trail:
- Post-closing or loan documentation manager. Knows how complete the exception notes really are, which years were kept in spreadsheets, and how often cures cite the envelope that fixed them.
- Chief credit officer. Knows which exceptions needed a credit approval rather than a routine fix, and which were waived. That judgment is part of what makes the history valuable, and it sits with credit, not operations.
- E-sign and imaging administrator in IT. Knows export formats, account counts and retention settings. That is technical access.
- General counsel or compliance lead. Reads borrower and guarantor agreements, privacy notices and participation contracts.
None of them alone can commit the lender's records to a licensing discussion. They are sources of fact, and later of scoping help.
The tree: six questions in order
Read the graphic from the bottom up. The same path in words:
- Who do you know? If it is the IT administrator or the post-closing manager, ask who owns closing operations end to end. At most lenders that is the lending operations head.
- Will the lending operations head convene? Ask whether they would sponsor an internal conversation about the lender's exception history. If yes, they are the working contact. If no, stop; nobody below them will carry it.
- Are any loans serviced for others or participated out? If the lender services loans owned by investors, or sold participations, ask whose records the closing files are before any scoping. Servicing and participation agreements may give other parties a say.
- Are borrowers or guarantors individuals? Consumer and small-business files often include personal guarantors. The FTC's guidance on the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act says the law applies to financial institutions offering products such as loans to individuals, and requires notice and an opportunity to opt out before nonpublic personal information goes to nonaffiliated third parties. Whether and how that bears on these records is for counsel, not the partner.
- Does anyone else hold consent rights? A parent bank, holding company or private equity sponsor may need to approve.
- Who approves? The CEO of the lending business, with general counsel reviewing any borrower terms involved.
Roles side by side
| Question | Lending ops head | Post-closing manager | Chief credit officer | IT administrator | General counsel | CEO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where do checklists, notes and envelopes live? | Knows | Knows | Partly | Knows | No | Rarely |
| How complete are exception notes? | Partly | Knows | Partly | No | No | No |
| Which exceptions needed approval? | Partly | Partly | Knows | No | No | No |
| Do borrower terms limit reuse? | No | No | No | No | Knows | Partly |
| Can convene the discussion? | Yes | No | Sometimes | No | No | Yes |
| Can approve a licensing discussion? | No | No | No | No | Reviews terms | Yes |
The table shows why introducing only the person you know best tends to stall. The convener and the approver are usually two different people, and both belong in the introduction.
Branches that stay open until rights review
Borrower and guarantor information. Names, entity details and signatures appear in every closing file. The completed record is fixed: Docusign states that a final, tamper-evident PDF is generated when a transaction completes, so information is not edited out after the fact; it is excluded or de-identified in preparation, if the rights review allows inclusion at all.
Liens and secured interests. Some lenders ask whether government loan programs place liens on business assets, including intangible ones. That concerns the borrower's assets, not the lender's operating records, but it comes up; whether an EIDL lien covers intellectual property explains the distinction.
Acquired portfolios. Files that came with an acquired lender may carry the seller's agreements. Note the acquisition year and leave the rest to counsel.
None of these ends the conversation. They shape scope, and SourceX wants them raised early. Why data rights matter sets out the review order.
Two lenders, two routes (Illustrative)
Fictional lenders invented for this page; not real cases.
| Step | 280-person equipment finance company | 900-person community bank holding company |
|---|---|---|
| First contact | E-sign administrator from a template rollout | Post-closing manager from a document automation project |
| Convener | Lending operations head | Chief lending officer, with the post-closing manager |
| Open branch | Personal guarantors on small-ticket deals | Participations sold to other banks; holding company consent |
| Review gate | General counsel | General counsel and compliance |
| Approver | CEO | CEO of the bank, with holding company sign-off |
The equipment finance route has one convener and one approver. The bank route adds participation contracts and a parent's consent, which changes timing and possibly scope, not eligibility. In both, the convener can describe years, volumes and systems from reports alone. The system map gives them the vocabulary, and the referral brief template puts the answers on one page.
What a partner may and may not do
Ask for names, roles and record classes. Never ask for loan files, envelopes or borrower names, and never present an administrator's willingness to export as approval. Is an application alone a deal? See the explainer on company applications; the short answer is no. Advisors already working with SBA lenders will find related context on the SBA lender referral partner page.
The introduced company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), documented operating history, rights to license and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting; one partner is credited per company. Which records can be licensed, in what de-identified form, whether there is buyer interest and whether an offer follows all stay unknown until SourceX reviews the opportunity.
Next step
Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000. Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
Once the lending operations head has agreed to convene and the CEO is named as approver, register as a partner, confirm the lender on who qualifies and read the program terms before you make the introduction.