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FHA Loans – Income and Employment Requirements

This is the third in a series of six posts that deal with important aspects of FHA financing.  The first post provided an overview of the program while the second post detailed FHA credit requirements.  This post will discuss the income and employment requirements necessary to obtain an FHA home loan.

Income Documentation
For employees this is quite straightforward.  Copies of the most recent paystubs covering at least one month and W2s for the previous two years are required.  Complete Federal income tax returns for the previous two years may be required as well.

For self-employed people, signed copies of personal tax returns for the previous two years are required.  If the business is a legal entity such as an “S” or “C” corporation, partnership or other legal entity then two years of business tax returns are also required.  A signed year-to-date Profit and Loss statement (P&L) will be needed to complete the income documentation.  FHA guidelines state that 25% or more ownership in a business is considered self-employment.

Types of Income for Employed People

The lender will review the paystubs together with the W2s and tax returns to establish a baseline amount of income as well as stability of the income.  In general, if base income is increasing they will likely be able to use the current income amounts.  On the other hand, income that is declining over the past two years will result in an averaging of the income.  A significant decline in base income will require a written explanation.

Self-Employed Income
Income and expenses will be analyzed from the past two years tax returns and current P&L.  The earnings will be averaged over this time period.  Income that appears stable or increasing will be considered, whereas declining earnings may not be considered acceptable.


Minimum Length of Employment

Stable employment in the same general field of work or business for two or more years is considered minimum.  Going from being an employee to self-employed, even in the same line of work, gets special scrutiny.  A person who has been self-employed for at least one year AND has at least two previous years of employed experience in the same field may be considered.  Formal training or education in the same line of work during the prior two years may be considered in lieu of employed experience.

The next post in this series will discuss the financial assets and down payment requirements for obtaining FHA financing.

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