August 8, 2013
When applying for an FHA home loan, your loan officer is required to verify your employment history–current and former–as a condition of loan approval. Some borrowers live and work in the same area for extended period of time, while others may have crossed the country to accept new employment or even transitioned from overseas locations to stateside (as is often the case with military families and other government employees).
In such cases, how does the lender verify employment? It may not be practical for the borrower to return to an old office or workplace to request verification and telephone or emailed requests for mailed documentation may not be done as quickly as needed. Can the lender or borrower request a faxed document from an old employer instead?
Here’s what FHA loan rules as found in HUD 4155.1, Chapter One Section B have to say about such proofs and how they are handled:
“Income, employment, or asset documents sent to the lender by fax must clearly identify the
- name of the employer or depository/investment firm and the source of information, and
- name and telephone number of the individual at the employer or financial institution responsible for verifying the accuracy of the data.”
FHA loan rules add that the loan officer is “accountable for determining the authenticity of faxed documents by examining the information included at the top or banner portion of the fax.”
If faxed documentation is acceptable, what about information printed from a company’s website, Wiki page or other online resources? Chapter One Section B states, “Documentation from an Internet website for depository accounts must provide the same information as a standard original statement, including
- account holder
- account number
- detailed transaction history, and
- account balance.
The lender must examine portions of printouts downloaded from the Internet for authenticity.”
That portion of the rules obviously covers an area other than employment, but the rules for job-related documentation are similar: “Likewise, income/employment or asset documentation from an Internet website must clearly identify the employer or depository/investment firm’s name, as well as the source of information.
- show the uniform resource locator (URL) address, as well as the date and time the documents were printed
- be derived from a website that has been verified by the lender to have existed, and
- be placed in the case binder.”
For more information on the rules for online or faxed documentation, speak to your loan officer.
Do you have questions about FHA home loans? Ask us in the comments section.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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