With more than 15 combined years of wholesale mortgage banking experience, Summer Scace and Jerry Castellanos created Approved as Submitted in 2004 because they saw a need in the mortgage industry for processors to think and work more like underwriters.

“We are a contract loan processing company with an underwriting emphasis,” Scace said. “The company was conceptualized while sipping cocktails and ‘talking shop’ during happy hour one evening. Deep into our conversation, we realized that there was something missing in the mortgage industry when it comes to processing. Instead of loan officers selling and getting new loans, we saw that they were processing their loans, which hindered getting new business. Jokingly, we said, ‘We should start our own processing company,’ and now that joke has become a reality.”

Approved as Submitted specializes in sub-prime loans but processes all loan types, including prime, government and hard money. Because Scace and Castellanos have underwriting backgrounds, they pre-underwrite all files from start to finish, meaning that loans get closed quicker and easier than with traditional processing.

“We are the perfect mixture of processing and underwriting, and we believe that you should be selling and we need to be processing,” Scace said. “In addition to processing, Jerry is a bilingual mobile notary and will go to your client’s place of business or home to sign their final loan docs.”

Castellanos and his partner, Matt, live in Mission Valley. Scace and her husband, David, live in Chula Vista along with their deaf dog, Tony. Both Castellanos and Scace are active in the community, most recently becoming members of the Greater San Diego Business Association and annually hosting a holiday party to support the Marines’ Toys for Tots program.