What Mortgage Income Documentation Your Lender Will Need From You

When you apply for a home loan, you’ll not only need to give your loan officer information about your income, employment, and assets, you’ll also need to provide documentation to back it up. Though documentation requirements can vary depending on the lender and loan program you’re applying for, there are some standard items that most lenders typically request. 

If you’re planning to begin shopping for a loan in the near future, I highly recommend gathering up this documentation ahead of time to speed up and simplify the application process. Depending on the lender, you may be asked for these documents up front as part of the application process, or further down the line once you’ve made a decision to move forward on the loan. Either way, having them pulled together ahead of time will make the process go smoother.

The following is a list of the documents most lenders will typically ask for: 

Pay stubs and W2s: If you’re a W2 wage earner, expect the lender to ask for your last two W2s and most recent months worth of paystubs. For instance, if you’re paid every two weeks, the lender will need your last two paystubs. If you’re paid weekly, you’ll need to provide your last four paystubs.

Tax returns: It used to be that W2 wage earners generally didn’t need to provide tax returns, but most lenders are asking for them today. If you’re a W2 wage earner or self-employed, be prepared to provide your last two years worth of full tax returns.

Bank /IRA/Investment/Retirement account statements: Underwriters will want to verify the assets on your loan application, so be prepared to provide the last 2 months worth of statements for any bank, IRA, investment, or retirement accounts. If statements are provided on a quarterly basis, such as for 401Ks, the most recent quarterly statement is usually fine.

Rental Agreements: If you have rental property or are refinancing a rental property make sure you gather up your rental agreements, particularly if you are going to be using the rental income to qualify.

If you’re doing a refinance, you’ll likely be asked for the following as well:

Recent mortgage statement(s): You’ll need to provide recent statements for all loans on the home being refinanced.

Declarations page of homeowners insurance policy: The declarations page is typically the first page of the policy.

If you’re purchasing a home, you’ll also need to provide the following:

Purchase agreement

Keep in mind that this list is not inclusive of everything you may be asked for. Additional documentation may be required at a later time by the lender depending on the loan program you’re applying for and your financial circumstances.

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