Final answer:
A Loan underwriter is the professional responsible for evaluating a borrower's creditworthiness during the loan application process, which includes credit evaluation and analyzing the housing-expense ratio and total-debt ratio.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the process of applying for a loan, the subject who is qualified through the loan application, credit evaluation, and two qualifying ratios (the housing-expense ratio and the total-debt ratio) is the Loan underwriter. The loan underwriter's job is to assess whether a borrower is creditworthy and to determine the level of risk associated with extending credit to that individual. They analyze the borrower's income sources, conduct a credit check, evaluate whether the borrower is likely to repay the loan, and consider additional factors such as possible collateral and the potential need for a cosigner.
An underwriter also looks into the repayment potential by considering records of profitability in case the borrower is a firm. If the borrower has been late on loan payments, the underwriter would see this as an increased risk. The economic conditions, such as current and projected interest rates, also play an essential role in the underwriter's decision-making process.