Monday, January 26, 2009

Stated Income Credit Lines

By Pat Johnson

If you own your own business, are self employed or get most of your income from commissioned sales, then you have probably run into trouble when applying for credit. Specifically when you are looking for mortgage refinance options you have difficulty being approved because you can't prove your income by traditional means. Financial institutions are beginning to realize this problem and are coming out with unique solutions called stated income loans and lines of credit.

If you want to borrow against the equity in your home you may be eligible for a stated income line of credit. The lender will not require you to provide proof of your income, but instead will take your word for it. Then, once approved, they account will be administered like any other.

It is a common business objective to strive to keep taxable income as low as possible by deducting eligible expenses. This is at odds with lenders who like to see as big an income as possible. They more income the easier it is for the borrower to service their total debt. Stated income credit products solve this.

The lender does not ask to see pay stubs, W2s or other income documents. What they require instead however is very strong credit. Your credit rating needs to be well above average to offset the additional risk the lender takes by not verifying your income.

The interest rate is often a little higher as well. It is not drastically higher, but again the lender is taking on additional risk and prices the product accordingly. There may be additional fees as well.

Some lenders will have unique criteria for these loans such as how long the applicant needs to have been in business. Additionally some banks may impose limits on how much greater the new monthly payment may be compared to how it was before. The lender simply wants to make sure that all the areas they can verify, are as solid as possible.

If you are self-employed or are paid mostly on commission, do not give up hope on getting a home equity line of credit. Talk to your local financial institution, mortgage broker or search the web for a lender that offers stated income loans or Alt-A products. You may find it is not as difficult to be approved as you first thought.

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