Decline and Counteroffer Letter
Says no with real reasons and a way forward, and flags when a formal notice is needed
Install it in one line — paste a single command into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and it writes the skill into your project.
Free, and about thirty seconds: a work email and a six-digit code.
Downloading shares your name, firm, role, and email with The Helvetica Group. That introduction is what keeps every skill here free.
What this skill does
Turns a no into the start of the next deal. Explains the real reasons in plain English, offers a structure you can actually approve — less leverage, more reserves, a guarantor — with the numbers, or points the borrower somewhere better. It also checks whether the decision needs a formal adverse action notice, which is a separate document.
What it does
- Translates underwriting reasons into specific sentences a borrower can act on, instead of "doesn't meet our guidelines"
- Builds a counteroffer from your program limits and shows the math, including how much more cash the borrower would need
- Offers a referral when nothing fits, without promising another lender's answer
- Screens for when a formal adverse action notice may be required under federal credit rules, and hands off to the Adverse Action Notice Drafter skill
- Drafts the borrower letter, a note to the broker if there is one, and a one-line record for your CRM
When to use it
- Underwriting says no, or not on these terms
- A deal can work at lower leverage or with a guarantor
- A broker sent a deal that doesn't fit and you want them to keep sending
- A repeat borrower brings a deal outside your program
What to have ready
- The original request
- The decision and the real reasons from underwriting
- How far the request got (inquiry, application, term sheet) and whether credit was pulled
- Counteroffer terms credit will approve, or referral options
How to use it
- Download it with the button above. You'll sign in with a work email — that's how the creator knows who is using their skill.
- Copy the install prompt from the "Run it in Claude" box, and paste it into Claude along with the file. Claude installs the skill, fills in your firm's details where the file has
[BRACKETED]placeholders, and runs a quick test with you. - Then just ask in plain English. Claude picks the skill up on its own when a request matches it. Anything it still needs, it asks you for — it won't invent a number.
"We can't do 90% on the [CITY] flip — borrower only has [N] verified exits. Draft a counteroffer letter at our max for their tier and keep them warm."
What you get back
An internal summary with the counteroffer math and a consistency check, a draft letter to the borrower or broker, a separate broker note if needed, and a warning block whenever a formal notice may be required.
Good to know
- Output quality tracks input quality. A missing figure is flagged as missing — it is never estimated to fill a gap.
- Every draft is a starting point for your own review, not a finished decision.
- Runs anywhere Claude does: the Claude app, Claude Desktop, or Claude Code.
- Never concludes that a formal notice isn't required, keeps reasons objective and consistent with the credit file, and marks every counteroffer as conditional with an expiry date.
Legal disclaimer
This skill drafts; it does not decide. Its output is not legal, tax, accounting, appraisal, or investment advice, and using it creates no attorney-client, fiduciary, or advisory relationship. Nothing it produces is a commitment to lend or an offer to sell a security. Verify every number, date, citation, and conclusion against the source documents, and have a qualified professional licensed in the relevant jurisdiction review the work before you rely on it or send it to a borrower, investor, counterparty, or regulator. Laws, rates, and market data change. The final work product is yours.
Inside this skill
The actual file you get. Members can read it in full before saving it.
Decline and Counteroffer Letter
In private lending the borrower you decline this month is often the borrower who brings the next five deals — if the no was fast, honest, and came with a way forward. Most declines are neither: a two-line email that says the deal "doesn't meet our guidelines," sent a week after the borrower stopped waiting. This skill writes the letter that keeps the relationship: the real reasons in plain English, a counteroffer with the numbers behind it, or a referral — and it checks whether the decision also needs a formal adverse action notice.
Works for: lenders and brokers on bridge, fix-and-flip, DSCR rental, construction, land, and small-balance commercial requests, to borrowers directly or through a broker.
This letter is not an adverse action notice. Formal ECOA notices have required content and timing and are drafted with adverse-action-notice-drafter. This skill flags when one may be needed and keeps the two documents consistent.
Step 1 — Intake
| Input | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The request | ✅ | Loan amount, type, property, leverage asked for, borrower or entity, and any guarantor |
| The decision | ✅ | Decline, counteroffer, or refer out — made by the credit decision-maker, not by this skill |
| The principal reasons | ✅ | The actual reasons from underwriting, in order of importance. Not a softened version |
| Stage reached | ✅ | Inquiry or quote only · application received · application complete · term sheet issued |
| Credit reports used | ✅ | Was a consumer credit report pulled on any individual borrower or guarantor? |
| Counteroffer terms | For a counteroffer | Leverage, loan amount, reserves, guarantor, pricing, conditions — approved by credit |
| Referral options | For a referral | Other programs or lenders the user is comfortable naming |
| Broker involved? | Helpful | Letter to the broker, the borrower, or both |
| Relationship notes | Helpful | Repeat borrower? Referral source? What they told you they cared about |
Minimum viable: the request, the decision, and the real reasons. Without the stage reached and whether credit was pulled, the adverse-action flag in Step 2 shows as Unknown — confirm.
Step 2 — Adverse action screen (run before drafting)
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B apply to business credit as well as consumer
Reading the full skill counts as a download. The contributor receives your name, company, and email.
Ratings & reviews
No written reviews yet. If you run this on a live file, say how it went. The next lender reading this page is deciding whether to trust it.
Examination record
Run it in Claude
- Copy the install command above
- Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
- It writes the skill in, fills in your firm’s details, and test-runs it with you
Prefer the file? The prompt above is for a package you already downloaded.
Details
More from The Helvetica Group
They publish here under a verified work email. Their other skills, and how to reach them, are on their contributor page.