Calculating dti for home loan, does rent factor in?

[Kevin Auyong]

I currently pay $1700 a month for rent.

Based on buying a house my mortgage, taxes, and insurance would come out to about $1300 a month.

When looking at my DTI for qualifying for a mortgage, does the lower cost for housing factor in at all since my housing cost drops $400 a month?

[Chris Mason]

Originally posted by @Kevin Auyong:

so is rent a liability? If I don't rent a house anymore do I eliminate the $1700 a month rent liability and the house purchase replaces it with a $1300 liability?

The reason I asked is I just did a cash out  refinance on  a rental house I own and the lender wanted a copy of the lease agreement as well as verification based on bank statements that I paid rent on the house I live in.

 If you're going to owner occupy the subject property, rent is excluded.

If you're going to continue living where you are and paying rent, then said rent is included in DTI.