Local bank calculating DTI in a strange way

[Paul Brady]

I have two rental properties 

One with a $5400 mortgage payment with $6600 in rents coming after expenses ($1,200 in profit)

Another with a $2000 mortgage payment with $3000 in rents coming in after expenses ($1,000 profit)

 

The underwriters are trying to tell me that the $5400 mortgage and $2,000 mortgage counts against my personal expenses but all I can use to combat these expenses is the profit I make from the rents after paying off the mortgages ($1,200 and $1,000)
So it looks like a complete loss on paper.
All they keep telling me is  “well we have to go off of the net profit” and I repeatedly told them yes that is the net profit after said mortgages are paid off from the rents. 

Has anyone ever had to deal with this sort of calculating or do you think the underwriters I was assigned to might not understand how to calculate rental income properly?

Thanks