Verification of Employment & Income

The HELOC program uses a waterfall approach to income verification, prioritizing automated methods before resorting to manual reviews.

Please note that we uses a third-party vendor to confirm employment. They have programmatic access to many employers*

INCOME TYPES

Salaried/W2 Employees

For W2 borrowers only, The Work Number (TWN) or Truwork is used for a direct match into a payroll system. If there is a successful hit, then the employment history is pulled for paystubs and W2 resulting in instant validation. 

If there was an invalid from return from the vendor, the borrower can connect to their personal bank accounts with Plaid CRA. 

Plaid CRA communicates directly with the borrower’s banking institution to obtain deposit history data 
which is analyzed to determine an income trend. 

If there is an invalid return from the vendor, borrowers can provide documents that require manual review. This includes: 

• Tax Returns: The borrower provides the two most recent years personal tax returns. These documents are reviewed by either Pointserv or Truwork, who return a calculation of self-employed income values. Our income underwriting team then reviews and approves the calculations returned by the vendor. 
• Paystubs: The borrower provides the two most recent months paystubs, as well as the most recent year W2. These documents are reviewed by either Pointserv or Truwork, who return a calculation of current income values. Our income underwriting team then reviews and approves the calculation returned by the vendor. 
• Signed contracts or offer letters are acceptable. The borrower must start the job within 90 days of loan closing. If the start date is beyond 90 days, the income cannot be utilized. 
• If there is no W2 due to the recency of the employment, 2 paystubs and a signed offer letter are required. 

Other eligible income documents: 

• VA benefit award letters (grossed up by 25%) 
• Documentable rental income either in the form of leases or tax returns, PITIA wash is allowed. 
• SSA Benefits; 15% of the income is nontaxable. The non-taxable portion is grossed up by 25%. Full 25% gross applies if borrowers provide proof that income is nontaxable. 
• Pension and/or brokerage account distributions.
• Business tax returns 
• Benefits statement 
• Signed divorce decree or similar court document (child support and alimony) 
• 1099-R
   

Self-Employed Borrowers

Borrowers can connect to their personal and business bank accounts with Plaid CRA*.

If there is an invalid return from the vendor, the borrowers can connect to their self-employed tax returns with Pointserv. 

Pointserv communicates directly with the IRS or the borrower’s tax provider to obtain the borrower’s two 
most recent years personal and business tax returns which are analyzed to determine an income trend. 

If there is an invalid return from the vendor, the borrowers can provide documents that require manual review.

The borrower provides the two most recent years personal tax returns and business returns (if applicable). These documents are reviewed by either Pointserv or Truwork, who return a calculation of self-employed income values. Our income underwriting team then reviews and approves the calculations returned by the vendor
 

*A minimum 680 FICO is required to utilize business bank accounts. 

Note: For bank accounts that are jointly owned, borrowers will be prompted to add the joint owner as a co-borrower to the transactions unless there is a justifiable reason (such as a death).