When getting a loan, can lenders consider spouse finances, even when they aren't on the mortgage?

Typically, there are two reasons a lender will consider the finances of a non-borrowing spouse. If the property is located in a community property state, the debt obligations of one spouse are also the responsibility of the borrowing spouse. Another, as in your case, if the lender has a reason to believe that the losses of the non-borrowing spouse are significant enough that it could jeopardize their reasonable expectation of repayment by you, they could deny the credit to you. ~ Bert Carpenter, The LoansA2z team of NOVA Home Loans ~ NMLS 40586 ~ www.LoansA2z.com 888-889-9950

Way too much info missing...are you Appling for FHA , VA, Conventional, USDA?? What is your loan product, because everyone is a little different.. Since the guidelines don't address this issue directly, it's up to the underwriter to interpret the rules as they see them, and the lender could have their own rules on top of conforming guidelines, so typically it's an underwriters call.. If they determined that the only income your husband shows on your tax returns was a loss, they could have a problem with it... if he has other income and a business showing a loss, then it's less of a problem.. But typically it's up to the underwriter.. And if this lender is saying no, there are others out there that will probably say yes.. But without knowing all the details, it's hard to say for sure.. I hope this helps.. I'm a Broker here in Scottsdale AZ and I only lend in Arizona. If you or someone you know is looking for financing options, feel free to contact me or pass along my information. 480-287-5714 WilliamAcres.com

In the past, this was never an issue. Today, with higher underwriting guidelines - his loss is your family loss, and it is assumed that loss will effect the family, so it is taken into consideration. Secondly, some states (like Wisconsin) are community property states, so the debt of one spouse is the debt of the other.

I've seen loans denied at other companies and then brought here and I've closed them here at our company. Underwriters sometimes tend to look at things differently.

That is not normal when the spouse is not on the loan because you are the only one qualifying for the loan. Are you self-employed. I'm assuming they saw your husbands tax transcripts because you filed jointly.

Because you filed jointly those loses will need to be considered. Always meet with an expierenced loan officer before submitting your loan the loan officer should have collected taxes at application and if so be able to tell you what you later found out.

If you filed Jointly and the 4506T/or transcripts came back as 120k income and lets say 75k loss from husband/household , then they can't overlook a big enough loss that puts the ratio's out of whack so to speak...bottom line loans have to make sense these days, that might of got overlooked 5 years ago, but not by everyone...Good luck and get a second opinion

Definitely get a second opinion!

My guess would be you are in a community property state. If that is not the case then the lender is taking the loss because they are seeing this as a negitive factor that could impact your ability to repay the mortgage obligation that you have applied for.