In the old days, mortgage lenders asked questions you wouldn't believe. For starters, they counted only a husband's income on the theory that a woman was likely to have a child and quit her job to stay home with it. I knew one woman who went through the humiliating process of submitting a certificate from her doctor, attesting that she was unable to bear children.

Only if the woman was a college graduate and a professional could that rule be bent.

Single women were sometimes in a better position when they applied for a mortgage loan. I remember one doctor, though, who was separated from her husband and who went to the length of divorcing him so she could qualify for a loan, only to be turned down by the lender in the end.

Today, of course, not only husband and wife but also unmarried persons can pool their incomes to qualify for mortgage loans together.

Lenders like to see applicants with at least two years' continuous employment in the same field, though of course they make allowances for those recently out of college, the armed forces, -- or jail.

I once heard a broker making an exploratory phone call to a local lender, explaining that the house-hunter he was working with had no debts at all, perfect credit "of course that's because he's been in prison for the past three years, does that matter?" The agent hung up and came away beaming; the lender said it didn't matter at all, "bring him in and we'll see what his income looks like."

Bonuses, commissions, overtime, seasonal and part-time income are taken into consideration, subject to employer verification and with varying time limits. Borrowers may include dividend and interest income, Social Security and pension income. The self-employed are usually asked for copies of two years' past tax returns, and perhaps an accountant's report on current operations.

Alimony and child care payments can be claimed, usually if they are subject to court order and there's proof that they are actually received.

Expected rental income, from the other half of a two-family house for example, is counted in varying amounts anywhere from 50 percent to 95 percent, depending on the type of loan being sought.

In recent years, special programs have been developed to assist borrowers who are marginally qualified.

In the old days, for example, lenders weren't even allowed to pay attention to "But we've been spending that much on rent all along with no trouble". Today, with some mortgage plans, it helps to show a history of prompt rent payments higher than the monthly mortgage payment being sought.

I'm Edith Lank, and I wish you good luck.

Published: April 12, 1999

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