Fannie Mae
Requirements for borrowers using self-employment income to qualify
Effective: Lenders are encouraged to apply these requirements to existing loans in process; however, they must be applied to loans with application dates on or after Jun. 11, 2020 until further notice.
Income Analysis
Self-employment income is variable in nature and generally subject to changing market and economic conditions. Whether a business is impacted by an adverse event, such as COVID-19, and the extent to which business earnings are impacted can depend on the nature of the business or the demand for products or services offered by the business. Income from a business that has been negatively impacted by changing conditions is not necessarily ineligible for use in qualifying the borrower. However, the lender is required to determine if the borrower’s income is stable and has a reasonable expectation of continuance. Due to the pandemic’s continuing impact on businesses throughout the country, lenders are now required to obtain the following additional documentation to support the decision that the self-employment income meets our requirements:
- an audited year-to-date profit and loss statement reporting business revenue, expenses, and net income up to and including the most recent month preceding the loan application date; or
- an unaudited year-to-date profit and loss statement signed by the borrower reporting business revenue, expenses, and net income up to and including the most recent month preceding the loan application date, and two business depository account(s) statements no older than the latest two months represented on the year-to-date profit and loss statement.
- For example, the business depository account statements can be no older than Apr. and May for a year-to-date profit and loss statement dated through May 31, 2020.
- The lender must review the two most recent depository account statements to support and/or not conflict with the information presented in the current year-to-date profit and loss statement. Otherwise, the lender must obtain additional statements or other documentation to support the information from the current year-to-date profit and loss statement.
NOTE: The year-to-date profit and loss statement must be no older than 60 days old as of the note date consistent with current Age of Documentation requirements below.
Lenders must review the profit and loss statement, and business depository accounts if required, and other relevant factors to determine the extent to which a business has been impacted by COVID-19. The lender can use the following guidance when performing the assessment of business operations and stability and must complete the business income assessment based on the minimum additional documentation above.
Business Income Calculation Adjustment
When the lender determines current year net business income has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and is:
- less than the historical monthly income calculated using Form 1084, but is stable at its current level, the lender must reduce the amount of qualifying income calculated using Form 1084 to no more than the current level of stable income as determined by the lender (see Business Income above).
- more than the historical income calculated using Form 1084, the lender must use no more than the currently stable level of income calculated using Form 1084 to qualify the borrower.
In all cases, qualifying income must be supported by documentation, including any supplemental documentation obtained by the lender.
Business Assets
We are clarifying that proceeds from the Small Business Administration PPP or any other similar COVID-19 related loans or grants are not considered business assets. Refer to B3-4.2-02, Depository Accounts for details.
Temporary eligibility requirements for purchase and refinance transactions
Effective: Lenders may immediately apply these policies to loans in process and must apply them to loans with application dates on or after Jun. 2, 2020. These policies will be effective until further notice.
In response to lender feedback, we are addressing eligibility requirements for borrowers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. With this update we are providing eligibility guidelines for purchase and refinance transactions.
Lenders must continue to review the borrower’s credit report to determine the status of all mortgage loans. In addition to reviewing the credit report, the lender must also apply due diligence for each mortgage loan on which the borrower is obligated, including co-signed mortgage loans and mortgage loans not related to the subject transaction, to determine whether the payments are current as of the note date of the new transaction. For the purposes of these requirements, “current” means the borrower has made all mortgage payments due in the month prior to the note date of the new loan transaction by no later than the last business day of that month. Examples of acceptable additional due diligence methods to document the loan file include:
- a loan payment history from the servicer or third-party verification service,
- a payoff statement (for mortgages being refinanced),
- the latest mortgage account statement from the borrower, and
- a verification of mortgage.
A borrower who is not current and has missed payments on any mortgage loan is eligible for a new mortgage loan if those missed payments were resolved. Please refer to the actual Lender Letter to review allowances.
We are not considering payments missed during the time of a COVID-19-related forbearance that have been resolved to be historical delinquencies for purposes of our excessive mortgage delinquency policy as outlined in B3-5.3-03, Previous Mortgage Payment History. This flexibility does not apply to high LTV refinance loans, which must continue to meet the payment history requirements in B5-7-02, High LTV Refinance Underwriting, Documentation, and Collateral Requirements for the New Loan.
