All Forum Posts by: Eric Boughner

Hi, I have a prospective tenant who is a travel nurse on a 13 week assignment. The background check, credit check and eviction history came out fine.

But the candidate is refusing to provide a verification of income. Only the top half of the assignment letter(that doesn’t show the income and the living stipend), no previous paystubs, no previous tax return, no W2, no 1099. We have been back and forth about this and the rationale has been diverse: 

- Does not feel comfortable providing the info without knowing about us personally 

- Offer letter does not guarantee a future income because travel nurse is an at will employee 

- Tax return does not indicate her affordability 

I Would appreciate any advice for us to push back for the right level of information! 

@Eric Boughner That must be why the applicant was very defensive. 

Given that the applicant has been haggling on everything (the room price, the utilities, the parking space, ...and the application fee...) without providing income verification, I declined the application. Either the applicant must be stretching the budget or have a strong scarcity mindset, neither of which is a good sign. 

Afterward, the applicant followed up with the first page of the full offer letter with hourly rates and also offered to provide a verification from the HR. I declined again as I don't want to work with someone who only responds to an ultimatum. 

Thank you for your post, Eric. I can see both sides of the argument. By the time I’ve asked for the first page of the contract (post-Prequalification and mid-Application all through RentRedi), the price has already been determined (advertised), so it almost seems criminal to change the determined price mid-application. If I were a traveling medical professional, and the price changed after I showed the proof of income, I would back out and no longer trust the landlord. I permit the numbers to be redacted on the contract because I believe every traveling medical professional earns enough for my property.

@Eric Boughner

Have you ever considered trying a different approach to acquiring a property other than the traditional financing?

There are many types of creative financing strategies out there that don't look at your income at all. It's how us "non-W2 earners" buy real estate. Some that might work for you are Seller financing or Subject To.

So many benefits to these methods!

I'm no expert but happy to help however I can.

Good luck!

@Eric Boughner- thanks   1)  having a  non occupant  coborrower is  definitely an option....all  debt and income for you and co borrower are  factored into the qualification ratios .....your income will not be able to be counted  in the  debt/ income ratios  until you have a min of  12 months of  traveling nurse  history or back to full time RN position  ..also fyi  - your  co borrower is  equally  liable for the mortgage 

@Eric Boughner- unfortunately most lenders will have an issue with this for the reason you mention…we do ….possible solution would be to have a non occupant coborrower on the loan that is strong enough to make qualifying work