How to prove your earnest money deposit cleared

Your lender needs to see that your earnest money actually left your bank account and cleared. The document that shows this is a printout of your bank transaction history, from the closing date of your last statement through today, with the running balance turned on. You print it straight from your bank's website with the page headers and footers on, in landscape.

Here is why it comes up. Your most recent bank statement usually closes before your earnest money check clears, so the statement does not show the deposit yet. Underwriting needs to bridge that gap. The transaction history fills it in and proves the money moved.

The whole thing takes a few minutes on a computer. The steps below work at almost any bank. Your screens may be labeled a little differently, but the options are the same. If you want the full picture of the process this fits into, see how the home buying process works.

What underwriting is looking for

Three things need to be visible on the printout. The transaction that shows your earnest money leaving the account. The running balance next to each transaction. And enough of your account number to tie the record to you, either the full number or the last few digits.

The deposit also needs to show a posted date. If it still says pending, wait until it posts and shows a real date, then pull the history. A pending line does not prove the money cleared.

Step by step

1. Log in on a computer. Sign in to your bank on a desktop or laptop browser. The print options you need are easier to reach here than in the mobile app.
2. Open your account activity. Click into the checking account you used for the earnest money. Find the section that shows your transactions. Depending on the bank it may be called Activity, Transactions, or Account Details.
3. Set the date range. Set the start date to the closing date of your most recent bank statement, and the end date to today. You want one unbroken record from that last statement through the present. If your bank does not let you filter by date, that is fine. Just print the full transaction history instead.
4. Turn on the running balance. Look for the option to show the running balance, the column that lists your balance after each transaction. Some banks show it by default, others have a toggle. Make sure it is on before you print. Also confirm your account number, or its last few digits, is on the page, and that the earnest money line shows a posted date rather than pending.
5. Print with the right settings. Open the print window and go to More settings. Turn Headers and footers on. That is what stamps the date, the bank web address, and the page numbers onto the printout, which is how your lender confirms the record is genuine. Then set the layout to Landscape so the wide table, including the running balance, does not get cut off. Save it as a PDF or print to paper and send it to your loan officer.

If your earnest money came from another account

Underwriting traces money back to where it came from. If you moved funds from savings, or from a different bank, into the account you paid the earnest money from, you need to document that account too. Run the same steps on that bank's website: pull the transaction history with the running balance, show the account number, and print it with headers and footers in landscape. That way the paper trail connects all the way to the source. This same sourcing logic is part of the bigger down payment and reserves picture your lender reviews.

If your bank cannot filter by date

Some banks do not offer a custom date range on the activity page. If that is your situation, print the full transaction history that the site shows. As long as it covers the period since your last statement and includes the earnest money transaction with the running balance, it works.

Where this fits in your loan file

That printout is one of the smaller pieces of a loan file, and it moves fast once you know where to look. If you are still early, it helps to understand how mortgage pre-approval works and what closing costs to expect, and you can browse the full learning center. When you are ready, see today's rates or start your application and we will walk you through the rest.