The Quick Read: Jumbo lenders count restricted stock unit (RSU) income only when the shares have vested, been delivered to you, and shown a steady history with your current employer. The lender averages that history instead of using last year’s best number. It also wants evidence the vesting will continue. Rules differ from lender to lender, so build the file around the strictest reasonable test.
Key Takeaways
- Vested and delivered counts. Granted does not. An unvested grant is a promise, not income.
- History comes from your current employer. A job change usually resets the clock.
- The figure is averaged and smoothed. Your qualifying income can sit below your most recent pay.
- Continuance matters. The lender wants to see future vesting still ahead of you.
- Vested shares can also serve as assets for down payment and reserves, with a paper trail.
Why Lenders Treat RSUs Like Variable Income
A salary is the same number every month. RSUs are not. The value moves with the share price, the vesting schedule, and whether your employer keeps granting new units.
Jumbo payment estimate
The starting figures are an example price in the jumbo range with ten percent down on a thirty-year fixed. Replace them with yours.
Editable benchmark: 7.40% as of October 15, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not a jumbo loan quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $1,000,000 price in the jumbo range, ten percent down on the top-leverage lane, a thirty-year fixed structure at the current Freddie Mac conforming benchmark, and property taxes and insurance estimated at typical national rates. Every field is editable.
Illustrative estimate only — not a Loan Estimate, approval, quote, or commitment to lend. The rate field carries the weekly Freddie Mac thirty-year conforming benchmark, a market reference and not a jumbo loan quote; jumbo rates are set by the lender and the lane at lock and differ from the conforming benchmark. An adjustable-rate scenario is shown at the benchmark for the whole term; the rate after the initial period is unknown. Reserve months and appraisal counts follow the lane sheet for the amount band; the automated finding may require more. Taxes, insurance and dues are editable estimates; closing costs are not included. On most lanes the conforming limit for the county decides whether a loan is jumbo at all; two lanes start at a stated dollar floor instead. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages.
So a lender treats RSUs the way it treats a bonus. It asks three questions. Did you actually receive this money? Did you receive it for long enough to call it a pattern? Will it likely keep coming?
If the answers hold up, the RSU income goes into your qualifying income. It sits next to base pay and gets measured against your monthly debts. If the answers are weak, the lender may count part of it or none of it.
This is where jumbo lending differs from the standard route. Smaller loans follow a published rulebook. Larger loans are written to each lender’s own policy. Many of those policies borrow the public benchmark and then add their own history requirements. Lendmire’s jumbo loan programs work this way. They are wholesale lanes, and each lane has its own tests.
Here is the envelope those lanes sit in. The headline lane uses a 660 decision score. Leverage reaches 90% on the top lane. Several lanes stop at 89.99% combined leverage, and the rest stop at 80%. Loan sizes reach $5,000,000 on the largest lanes. The ratio ceiling is 50% on the fixed lanes, 45% on the adjustable lane, and 43% on the interest-only lanes. All of it is subject to lender guidelines and full file review, and none of it is a commitment to lend.
How a Lender Tests Your RSU Income, Step by Step
The tests run in a predictable order. Walk through them in the same order and you will know where your file is strong or thin.
Step 1: Are the shares vested and delivered?
Only vested shares that were delivered to you without restrictions count. A grant letter showing a large total value does not move the needle. Unvested units are future compensation, and lenders do not spend future compensation.
Step 2: How long have you received them?
The history requirement depends on the type of award. Here is the usual pattern, based on mortgage-insurer training materials that follow the agency guides:
- Time-based awards (vest on a calendar schedule): at least 12 months of receipt. With less than that, MGIC’s RSU review tool treats the income as ineligible.
- Performance-based awards (vest when targets are hit): a longer history, commonly 24 months. Between 12 and 24 months may be considered when other strengths offset it.
The history has to come from your current employer. Shares that vested at a previous company do not carry over.
Step 3: Will it continue?
The lender wants evidence the income will last. The common test looks forward about three years. Recurring awards should be likely to continue. A one-time award needs enough vesting left on the schedule. The same MGIC tool stops at 36 months of remaining vesting and calls anything shorter ineligible.
So a grant that finishes vesting in a few months can fail even with a perfect history. Fine print, but it decides files.
Step 4: Is the stock public?
The lender needs a trading price it can verify. Public-company stock gives it one. Private-company RSUs are generally not treated like public ones, because there is no market price to average. A recently listed employer has a different problem: there may not be enough trading history to build the average.
Step 5: How is the number calculated?
Here the qualifying figure gets smaller than people expect. The lender averages the vested value over your history period. For share-based income it also uses a smoothed share price, often a 200-day average, not the day’s quote.
Picture a borrower with a time-based grant. Say 1,200 shares vested over the last 24 months. That is 50 shares a month. The lender multiplies 50 by its smoothed share price to get a monthly income figure. If the stock jumped last month, you do not get credit for the jump. If it dropped, the average cushions the drop.
Now picture the same borrower with a declining pattern. Say the most recent year vested about half the shares of the year before. A cautious underwriter may use the lower, more recent run rate. That is the reason a front-loaded grant can look like falling income even when your employer treats you well.
Cash-settled RSUs follow a different calculation than share-settled ones. The method depends on whether the income arrives as shares or cash, and on how long you have received it.
Step 6: Verify, then compare to debts
The lender confirms the income with third-party records, then compares your total monthly debts to your total qualifying income. The appraisal does not enter into this. It values the property only.
Where the Benchmark Comes From
Jumbo lenders write their own rules, but they rarely start from a blank page. The public benchmark is the Fannie Mae Selling Guide. Section B3-3.1-09 covers restricted stock and RSU income. Fannie Mae’s announcement of the change says RSU income qualifies only if the stock has vested and been distributed to the borrower without restrictions. Freddie Mac has its own equivalent sections. The tests above trace back to these documents.
A loan is jumbo when it starts above the county’s conforming limit, which the Federal Housing Finance Agency sets. Limits differ by county and reset annually. Check the current figure on FHFA’s announcement and county data instead of assuming. Loans above the limit fall outside the standard agency purchase framework, which is why each lane sets its own income policy.
One federal rule still applies to jumbo loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau requires lenders to verify the income they rely on with reasonably reliable third-party records. See the CFPB’s small-entity compliance guide. It generally bars a lender from relying on what you say. The rule does not spell out how RSUs must be counted, so lender policy fills that gap. “Jumbo means no rules” is a myth. Jumbo means different rules.
What Counts, What May Count, What Usually Doesn’t
This table summarizes how common situations tend to land. It is a general pattern. Each lender sets its own policy.
| Situation | Usual treatment | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Vested time-based RSUs, 12+ months | Counts | Averaged over history |
| Performance-based grants, 12-24 months | May count | Longer history preferred |
| Unvested grants | Usually doesn’t | Promise, not income |
| Sign-on grant paid in stock | Usually doesn’t | Agency guidance excludes it |
| New hire, no vest history | Usually doesn’t | Clock starts at hire |
| Private-company or pre-IPO RSUs | Usually doesn’t | No verifiable price |
Edge Cases Where the General Rule Bends
Sign-on grants. Under Fannie Mae’s guidance, a sign-on bonus paid as restricted stock that vests over any period cannot be counted as qualifying income. This rule comes from a secondary summary of the announcement, so confirm the current wording with your loan officer.
New job, new clock. The history must come from your current employer. If you changed jobs recently, your old vesting record may not help. A single new-hire grant with no vesting track record usually does not count. Some jumbo lanes may be more flexible on history when other parts of the file are strong, and others may be stricter. That is a lender-by-lender question.
Recent IPO. The underwriter cannot build a 200-day average without trading history. The minimum history is the controlling factor, and the date your company went public matters.
Refresher grants and front-loaded vesting. A big initial grant that tapers can look like declining income. Bring the schedule showing how refresher grants layer in. The underwriter needs to see the pattern, not just one year’s total.
Assets instead of income. Vested shares sitting in a brokerage account can serve as assets for down payment, closing costs, and reserves. Unvested stock generally does not count as an asset. Across the jumbo lanes Lendmire places files with, reserves are measured in months of the full payment and rise with the loan amount. Documented, vested shares can help meet them.
Cash-out refinance. The same income tests apply when you refinance your own home and take cash out. It is still a consumer, owner-occupied mortgage, and cash-out leverage sits below purchase leverage. Lendmire has a separate piece How to Size a Jumbo Cash-Out on RSU and Bonus Income.
Other equity pay. Stock options, employee stock purchase plans, and restricted stock awards are not automatically treated like RSUs. Ask the lender before assuming.
The Document Packet
A typical file for stock compensation includes:
- Evidence the stock is publicly traded.
- The vesting schedule, showing past and future vesting.
- The RSU agreement, award agreement, or offer letter.
- Recent pay stubs and W-2s.
- A brokerage or bank statement showing the shares or funds were actually delivered.
- For share-based income, the 200-day average share price (the lender usually pulls this).
Ask your stock plan administrator and HR early. Vest events and the statements that prove them do not always land at the same time. Do not wait until you are under contract to find out how long a vesting statement takes to arrive.
What the Decision Looks Like in Practice
Three things usually decide the outcome: the vesting history with your current employer, the continuance evidence, and how the lender averages the value.
Counting RSUs can raise your qualifying income and push a home purchase into jumbo range. A smoothed or partly excluded RSU figure can also lower your buying power compared with what a pay stub suggests. Both happen.
Timing is a real lever. Waiting a few months can build the vesting history a lender wants. Avoiding a job change before you apply protects the clock. Applying right after a major vest can strengthen the file, since the record is fresh and complete.
Then there is your household budget. Qualification uses averaged income. Actual vesting follows the share price. Do not assume your monthly budget should match the lender’s figure.
Selling shares to raise cash can carry tax consequences. Tax treatment can depend on your situation; borrowers should speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction or credit.
Common reasons files get cut or declined
- Counting unvested grants as income.
- Less than the required vesting history.
- A job change inside the history window.
- Too little vesting left on the schedule.
- No paper trail showing shares were delivered.
- A recent decline in vested value that the underwriter averages in.
Where the Verified Program Figures Fit
Everything above describes how stock compensation is underwritten in general. The program figures that apply to a Lendmire file come from the wholesale lanes themselves:
| Factor | Figure |
|---|---|
| Headline lane decision score | 660 |
| Top leverage | Up to 90% |
| Loan size, largest lanes | Up to $5,000,000 |
| Ratio ceiling, fixed lanes | 50% |
| Ratio ceiling, adjustable lane | 45% |
| Ratio ceiling, interest-only lanes | 43% |
Several lanes cap at 89.99% combined leverage, and the others stop at 80%. Reserves rise with the loan amount. Larger amounts trigger two appraisals above a lane’s threshold. Structures include fixed, adjustable, and interest-only. Two lanes accept non-warrantable condominiums, and primary, second-home, and investment occupancy each carry lane-specific leverage. Your RSU income feeds the ratio test. A lower qualifying figure means a higher ratio, so the averaging step matters. Subject to lender guidelines and full file review.
Key Terms Defined
Jumbo loan: a mortgage that begins one dollar above the county’s conforming limit.
RSU (restricted stock unit): a promise from your employer to deliver shares once a vesting condition is met.
Vesting: the point when you earn the right to the shares.
Delivery: the shares land in your account without restrictions.
Qualifying income: the monthly income figure a lender uses to measure your debts.
Continuance: evidence the income will likely keep arriving.
Time-based award: an RSU that vests on a calendar schedule.
Performance-based award: an RSU that vests only when company or personal targets are met.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to sell my shares for them to count as income?
No. Income is counted from vesting and delivery. Selling is not required. Selling can have tax consequences, so talk to a tax professional first.
Can unvested RSUs help me qualify?
Generally not. They are a promise, not income. They may support a file as a positive factor, but they do not add to qualifying income.
What if I just changed jobs?
Expect the history clock to reset, since the record has to come from your current employer. Some lenders may weigh strong credit, reserves, and tenure in the field, but each lender sets its own approach.
Does my employer have to be public?
For the standard tests, yes. A verifiable share price is what lets the underwriter average the value. Private-company RSUs are generally not treated like public-company RSUs.
Can vested shares help with my down payment?
Yes, with documentation. Vested shares in a brokerage account can serve as assets for down payment, closing costs, and reserves. A statement trail is required.
For your own numbers, request a scenario review with Lendmire.
About Lendmire
Lendmire — NMLS# 2371349 — is a mortgage broker that arranges FHA, VA, conventional and jumbo home purchase and refinance financing in 16 states through wholesale lenders. Every option is subject to the lender’s guidelines and full underwriting. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. MGIC RSU review and calculation tool
2. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.1-09
3. Fannie Mae SEL-2023-11 announcement
4. FHFA conforming loan limit release
5. CFPB ATR/QM small-entity compliance guide
This article is part of Lendmire’s jumbo loan program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Jumbo Cash-Out Requirements for a Home Vested in a Trust or Estate · How Many Months of Reserves Does a Jumbo Loan Require? · Jumbo Cash-Out Signing Requirements for an Out-of-State Spouse
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Compliance and disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a licensed mortgage broker and is not a direct lender, depository institution, financial advisor, or tax professional. Content in this article is general market analysis and educational information — not financial, legal, or tax advice for any specific situation. Lendmire does not guarantee loan approval; every transaction is subject to underwriting by the funding lender. Mortgage pricing and loan program guidelines are subject to change at any time without notice and vary by borrower characteristics, property type, and state regulations. Lendmire complies with Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensure verification: NMLS Consumer Access.