Suzanne Söderberg, CDLP - Divorce Lending NMLS #501875 Benchmark Mortgage

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Suzanne Söderberg, CDLP - Divorce Lending NMLS #501875 Benchmark Mortgage

Suzanne Söderberg
Specializes in the divorce lending field as a Certified Divorce Lending Professional (CDLP®).
(1)

NMLS #501875
Benchmark Mortgage
Equal Housing Opportunity
Ark-La-Tex Financial Services LLC, NMLS #2143

09/05/2026

Where do divorce settlements go wrong?

Not in the courtroom—
In the blind spots.

Real property decisions are often made based on assumptions:

“They’ll refinance later”
“The income will qualify”
“The structure works”

But without validating those assumptions against lending reality, many agreements become unworkable after they’re signed.

This creates unnecessary risk—for both the client and the professionals involved.

A CDLP® brings financial clarity into the process before decisions are finalized—so the outcome is not just agreed upon, but executable.

If you’re advising clients on real estate in divorce, this is a critical perspective: https://bit.ly/41mKzaj

09/03/2026

Sometimes the easiest path isn’t the safest one. It’s common for divorcing couples to consider assuming the existing mortgage to avoid the costs of refinancing and to keep a low rate and payment. But what starts as a quick solution can lead to financial strain later if the full mortgage picture isn’t reviewed first.

As a Certified Divorce Lending Professional (CDLP®), my role is to evaluate every option, including loan assumptions, and provide a Divorce Mortgage Planning and Analysis that helps both parties move forward with clarity and confidence.

You deserve a plan that supports your next chapter, not just the next payment.

09/02/2026

Did you know more financial planners are recommending Home Equity Access Loans as a retirement strategy — not a fallback? If you have equity in your home, a HEAL could help you delay Social Security, cover medical costs, or just give you more flexibility without touching your savings.

Reach out anytime to learn more!

09/01/2026

A client tells you she just needs to keep the house. It usually arrives before the intake is even finished, and it sounds like a clear instruction rather than a question.

The Divorce Lending Association's September briefing argues that it is the wrong question, and I think the argument is right.

Not because keeping the home is a bad outcome. Because "how do I keep the house" has a binary answer, and a yes gets recorded as a win. The briefing's point is that yes is not one answer. It is at least three:

Yes, you qualify. That is not the same as yes, you can carry it. Yes, you can keep it. Here is what keeping it costs. Yes, and here is what the same dollars would have done instead.

In my experience only the first one gets tested before signing. The other two show up in year two.

The better question the piece proposes is forward-facing: how does this house fit into the life I am about to live? That one does not resolve to a yes or a no. It resolves to a design, and it opens four inquiries that determine whether a settlement holds.

Worth reading if you have housing questions open on a current file. It also covers how to raise the reframe in the room without it sounding like a refusal.

https://divorcebriefings.com/4yedAmL

If you have a file where the housing question is still open, I would rather look at it now than after the decree is entered.

08/29/2026

What’s often overlooked can cause the biggest setbacks. Loan assumptions made during divorce may seem like an easy fix, but hidden financial and legal risks can create long-term consequences, delaying settlements or endangering homeownership.

As a Certified Divorce Lending Professional (CDLP®), I work to identify these risks early and structure mortgage solutions that protect both parties’ financial futures.

Read more: https://divorcebriefings.com/4qF3V5S

08/26/2026

If you've found yourself Googling retirement options for your parents lately, you're not alone. Whether they need more financial flexibility or are starting to need more care, a Home Equity Access Loan is one solution many families don’t know exist.

DM me or drop me a comment if you’d like to learn more.

08/25/2026

If you've hesitated to bring a CDLP® into a case because you weren't sure it was big enough to warrant it, this is for you.

There is no minimum. A case can be one question about whether your client can qualify on their own income. It can also be months of analysis ending in testimony. Same credential, same standard of care, entirely different work.

You are not expected to scope the engagement before you refer. Scoping it is what I do first.

What I'd rather avoid is the version where the question goes unasked because the case didn't seem to justify a call.

08/22/2026

The risk in divorce isn’t the house. It’s the assumption.

Assuming someone can refinance.
Assuming income will qualify.
Assuming debt on paper translates to debt in underwriting.

These assumptions are where breakdowns happen.

Because mortgage guidelines don’t interpret intent—they evaluate structure.

When housing decisions are made without validating:
• Income continuance and usability
• Debt-to-income impact
• Title and liability exposure
• Timing of ex*****on

The result is often a settlement that cannot be implemented as written.

This is the gap Divorce Mortgage Planning is designed to solve.

It ensures that real property decisions are not only negotiated—but actually executable within lending guidelines.

For professionals, this is about protecting the integrity of the agreement.
For clients, it’s about protecting their financial future.

If you’re involved in a divorce case with real estate, the question isn’t what was agreed to—
it’s whether it will work.

Let’s connect.

08/21/2026

Are you 62 or older, sitting on home equity but feeling financially constrained in retirement? A Home Equity Asset Loan (HEAL) could be the solution you never knew existed. What if your equity could work for you without giving up your home or taking on a monthly mortgage payment?

Drop a comment or DM me to learn more!

08/18/2026

An engagement with me can take twenty minutes. It can also run for months and end with expert testimony.

Same credential. Same standard of care. Entirely different work.

The work is built in layers: from a few answers early, before assumptions harden, all the way to testimony on the stand. Which layer a case calls for is set by the circumstances of the divorce, not by the credential.

What damages clients isn't starting small. It's the mismatch: a quick answer standing in where the case needed full mortgage capacity analysis, or a trial fought over housing feasibility with no qualified expert in the record.

You don't have to figure out which layer your client's case needs before you call me. That's my job.

Send me the case at whatever layer it's in.

Read the full article: https://divorcebriefings.com/Layers

Address

10446 N 74th Street, Suite 250
Scottsdale, AZ
85258

Telephone

+16022063439

Website

http://www.suzannesoderberg.com/

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