What The Borrower Sees On Their End

Understanding what your client experiences in a portal helps you build better templates and answer their questions before they have to ask.

What They See Depends On What You Chose To Collect

When you send a portal you pick any combination of three things to collect: Info (the intake form), Documents (uploads), and Signing (forms to e-sign). The borrower only sees the steps you turned on, and the first step is whichever one you enabled first.

So the experience varies: a signing-only portal shows just the signing step, a documents plus signing portal skips the form, an info plus signing portal skips document upload, and a full portal walks through all three. The step tracker and the back and next buttons adapt to whatever's included, so there are no empty or skipped screens.

The sections below describe each step in detail for when it's present.

They Click The Link

The email from you contains a button (e.g., Open Your Portal). They click and land on the portal's home screen - no signup required.

The link is token-gated. Only the recipient can open it (though they can share the link with their spouse or advisor who would also be able to open it).

The name at the top of the portal reflects whoever you chose to present as in the send preview - your own name, a teammate's, or the brokerage name - and defaults to whoever sent it. The logo stays your account's. When you choose a person, the footer uses that teammate's contact details. When you choose the brokerage or business name, the footer keeps the actual sender as the client's contact.

A still-valid link keeps working even after the portal has been quiet for a while, so the borrower can pick up where they left off. If a link was revoked or is otherwise no longer valid, they land on an expired-link screen where they can enter the email used for the portal and request a fresh link. For privacy, the confirmation looks the same whether or not the email matches an active portal, and any new link only goes to the saved recipient address.

Co-Applicants Each Get Their Own Link

When a portal has co-applicants, each applicant signs in with their own link and only ever sees and completes their own part. They cannot see the other applicants' answers or documents - their identity is locked to the link they signed in with, so there's nothing to switch between.

A short banner at the top orients the signed-in applicant, for example "You're completing your part, Jordan. Taylor will complete their part from their own link." Every applicant only sees the form fields, document requests, and signing steps you designated for them.

Their part is also shaped by what you chose to collect from them specifically. Info, documents, and signing are set per applicant when you send the portal, so steps can differ between applicants - the primary might fill the intake form, upload documents, and sign while a co-applicant only uploads documents. Each applicant's step count, navigation, and progress reflect their own assignment, and steps they weren't asked for are unreachable - even typing the URL of a step they don't have just redirects them to their first step.

A single-borrower portal (no co-applicants) behaves exactly as before - one link, one experience, no banner.

They Fill In Forms

For a full-intake portal, they work through several tabs:

• Property - address, value, type of purchase or refinance.
• Income - employment, salary, employer info.
• Stated Income - for self-employed scenarios.
• Downpayment - amount, source, supporting docs.
• Liabilities - debts they're carrying.
• Transactions - bank account history if requested.
• Summary - a final review screen.

Each tab has its own progress indicator. They can stop, close, and come back later - the token is persistent and we save in real-time.

For docs-only portals, they just see a document upload list.

They Upload Documents

For each requested document, they tap Upload and pick a file (or take a photo from their phone). We accept PDF, JPG, PNG, and iPhone HEIC photos.

When a doc is uploaded:

• Photos and images (JPG, PNG, HEIC, and similar) are automatically converted to a PDF, so what's stored and what you download is always a tidy PDF - not a sideways phone snapshot. Orientation is corrected and the file is named to match the document (e.g. front-of-drivers-license.pdf).
• We check it for basic issues (right doc type, readable, complete pages).
• We flag anything that looks off.

Overriding A Flagged Doc

If we flag a doc as potentially wrong, the borrower has an override option:

• They click Mark as correct.
• They type a brief rationale for why it's correct (e.g., "this is the second page of my Notice of Assessment, the first page didn't have my name on it").
• The doc is submitted with the rationale attached, so you see the explanation on your end.

This stops borrowers from getting stuck on doc validation when the doc is actually fine.

They Sign Documents

For any signable PDF you've added to the template (Adding Documents For Signature), they sign right in the portal - no separate signing app to download, no extra account to create.

They Submit

When everything's filled and uploaded, they tap Submit. You're notified, and the session moves into your review queue.

On a portal with co-applicants, the session isn't marked submitted until every applicant has submitted their part. Someone who finishes early sees a waiting state and can't change their answers, but the others aren't locked out - they keep working from their own link until they submit too.

What To Do Next

• Send a portal to a test address to see it yourself: Sending A Portal.
• Review what they submitted: Working A Portal Submission.