# Pull your Desktop Underwriter findings into your systems

> Read the Loan List, each casefile's Underwriting Recommendation and its DU Underwriting Findings report with one API call each. Or have a workflow check the Loan List every morning and send you the casefiles that are Out of Date or in Error.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/desktop-underwriter
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own Desktop Underwriter account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on DU

### Search the Loan List

Searches the Loan List for one Institution and a Last Modified Range, and reads each casefile's Credit Status, Underwriting Status and Underwriting Recommendation.

- Takes: Institution, last modified range
- Returns: Casefile ID, credit status, underwriting status, underwriting recommendation, submission type

### Read the DU Underwriting Findings

Opens a casefile's Findings Report tab and reads the Summary, Rep and Warrant Relief Eligibility, Priority Actions and Detailed DU Messages sections.

- Takes: Institution, casefile ID
- Returns: Recommendation, expiration-related closing dates, rep and warrant relief status, priority actions, DU messages

### Resubmit a casefile for underwriting

Opens a casefile in Loan Review, chooses Submit Loan with Underwriting Only, waits for processing and reads the new Underwriting Recommendation.

- Takes: Institution, casefile ID
- Returns: Casefile ID, underwriting status, underwriting recommendation

### Submit a casefile to a sponsoring lender

In Desktop Originator, submits a casefile to the sponsoring lender you name as Interim or Final, with Underwriting Only, and reads the recommendation.

- Takes: Casefile ID, sponsoring lender, Interim or Final
- Returns: Casefile ID, sponsoring lender, submission type, underwriting recommendation

## Automate DU with a workflow

A [workflow](/product/workflows) runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

### Casefiles that are Out of Date or in Error

Starts: Every weekday at 7:00

1. Search the Loan List for each Institution you name, over the last 30 days.
2. Keep the casefiles whose Underwriting Status is Out of Date or Error.
3. Email you the list, one section per Institution, with Casefile ID and recommendation.

### New recommendations, with their Priority Actions

Starts: Every hour

1. Search the Loan List for the Institution you name, with a Last Modified Range of Today.
2. Keep the casefiles with Underwriting Status Complete whose recommendation changed since the last run.
3. Read the DU Underwriting Findings of each one for its closing dates and Priority Actions.
4. Post Casefile ID, recommendation, closing dates and Priority Actions to your webhook.

### Weekly report of Refer with Caution and Out of Scope

Starts: Every Friday at 16:00

1. Search the Loan List for each Institution over the last 30 days.
2. Keep the casefiles with Refer with Caution, Out of Scope or Approve/Ineligible.
3. Group them by recommendation with an AI step and email you the report.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

## Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a [method](/product/methods), it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Search the Loan List” would look like.

Example request:

```
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "accessdodu.fanniemae.com/search_loan_list",
    "input": {
      "institution": "Northwind Home Lending, Main Branch",
      "last_modified_range": "30 days"
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "institution": "Northwind Home Lending, Main Branch",
    "casefiles": [
      {
        "casefile_id": "1834072915",
        "credit_status": "Complete",
        "underwriting_status": "Complete",
        "underwriting_recommendation": "Approve/Eligible",
        "submission_type": null
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}
```

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

## DU’s own options

Fannie Mae's Developer Portal has Business Partner APIs, such as Loan Lookup and Loan Pricing and Committing, for approved sellers, servicers and technology service providers. DU itself is reached through the screens or a loan origination system integrated with it, which can now take the DU Findings report as JSON. The screens import and export casefiles as MISMO 3.4 files.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Business Partner APIs | Eligibility, loan pricing, appraisals and servicing data, for example Loan Lookup, Loan Pricing and Committing, and AMI Lookup. | An approved Fannie Mae business partner. Sellers and servicers ask their Technology Delivery Manager, TSPs their Strategic Alliance Manager. |
| DU through an integrated LOS | Submissions from your loan origination system, with the DU Findings report in a JSON format for integrated lenders and partners. | A loan origination system or partner that has built an interface with DU. |
| MISMO AUS 3.4 import and export | Import Loan on the Loan List and Export Loan on the Loan Review screen, one casefile at a time. | A DU or DO user ID. Check with your LOS vendor that it reads the MISMO 3.4 format. |
| DU and DO by hand | The Loan List, the Loan Review screen and the DU Underwriting Findings report, one Institution at a time. | A user ID that your company's Technology Manager administrator registers for DU or DO and AU Desktop Underwriter UI. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)](https://singlefamily.fanniemae.com/applications-technology/application-programming-interfaces-apis-developer-portal), [Desktop Underwriter and Desktop Originator](https://singlefamily.fanniemae.com/applications-technology/desktop-underwriter-desktop-originator), [DU Job Aids: Importing or Exporting a Loan](https://singlefamily.fanniemae.com/job-aid/new-desktop-underwriter/topic/importing_or_exporting_a_loan.htm).

## Signing in to DU

DU asks for your User ID and password, then a multifactor step: a code from an authenticator app, a FIDO2 security key or passkey, or a 6-digit code emailed to you, open to every user. Your company's administrator registers your user ID. With Fous you sign in once through DU's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, the emailed code is handled, and an expired session is signed back in.

## Worth knowing

- **Searches run one Institution at a time**: The Loan List returns casefiles for the Institution you select. Once a casefile is submitted to an Institution, every resubmission goes there, so each method you build takes the Institution as an input.
- **Any change makes a casefile Out of Date**: Editing a casefile after it was submitted sets its Underwriting Status to Out of Date. You have to submit it again to see the new recommendation and DU Underwriting Findings.
- **Final hands editing to the sponsoring lender**: In DO, an Interim submission leaves the broker in control of the loan data. A Final submission gives the sponsoring lender the editing rights, and a casefile cannot move to another lender unless it is released.
- **Credit comes before underwriting**: A casefile needs a credit report ordered or reissued before it can be submitted. Once DU has retrieved a credit report, it stays available unless critical borrower data such as name or Social Security number changes.

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Other industries: [USPS Business Customer Gateway](/automate/usps-business-customer-gateway), [Bonfire](/automate/bonfire), [Colorado Revenue Online](/automate/colorado-revenue-online), [DIR Public Works eCPR](/automate/dir-public-works-ecpr), [Sonepar Onlineshop](/automate/sonepar-onlineshop), [Bullhorn](/automate/bullhorn).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Desktop Underwriter have an API?

Not one you can sign up for directly. DU is used through its screens or through a loan origination system that has built an interface with it, which can take the DU Findings report as JSON. Fannie Mae's Business Partner APIs, such as Loan Lookup, are for approved sellers, servicers and technology service providers.

### How do I know a casefile needs to be resubmitted?

Its Underwriting Status on the Loan List shows Out of Date. That status appears after any change to a casefile already submitted, and you submit it again to get a new recommendation and DU Underwriting Findings.

### What is the difference between Refer with Caution and Out of Scope?

Both are issued only on conventional casefiles. Refer with Caution means the data does not meet Fannie Mae's credit risk standards or eligibility requirements for DU loans, and the loan can be manually underwritten. Out of Scope means DU has no rules or models for that product, borrower or loan type.

### Can I move a casefile between DU and my loan origination system?

Yes, as a file. DU imports and exports casefiles in the MISMO AUS Version 3.4 format, with Import Loan on the Loan List and Export Loan under Loan Actions on the Loan Review screen.

### Is Fous affiliated with Fannie Mae?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own Desktop Underwriter or Desktop Originator account, and a method reads and does only what that account can.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of Desktop Underwriter (Fannie Mae). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.