The Quick Read: A bank statement loan measures the cash that flows through your accounts, while an asset depletion loan measures the wealth you already hold. Attorneys with steady deposits usually fit the first, and attorneys with large liquid holdings but thin or irregular deposits usually fit the second. Which one wins depends on your file, not on the title after your name.
- A bank statement loan turns 12 or 24 months of deposits into monthly income, after an expense ratio on business accounts.
- An asset depletion loan turns eligible liquid assets into notional monthly income by dividing them over a set number of months.
- Trust account money is client money, so it counts as neither income nor an asset.
- Asset paths are for primary and second homes. A rental purchase usually points to bank statements or a DSCR loan.
- Every figure below is a ceiling through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting. This is not a commitment to lend.
The Honest Answer First
Pick the method that matches your strongest document. If your operating or personal accounts show a deep, steady stream of fees or partner distributions, the bank statement loan reads that stream and gives it credit. If your tax return understates you, the statements usually tell the better story.
If your strength is a large brokerage or retirement balance, the asset depletion loan reads that. This fits an attorney who just left a firm, sold a practice, or draws income in lumpy settlement cycles. It also fits one who keeps most earnings inside the firm.
Neither loan is better in the abstract. They answer different questions, and a good broker tests both before choosing. Lendmire arranges both through its wholesale network and does not lend directly.
Side-by-Side
The table below reflects what we see across the wholesale programs we place files with. Each figure is a ceiling or typical range through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting.
| Factor | Bank Statement Loan | Asset Depletion Loan |
|---|---|---|
| What it measures | Cash flow through accounts | Liquid assets on hand |
| Core calculation | Eligible deposits ÷ months, after expense ratio | Eligible assets ÷ 36, 60 or 84 months |
| Documentation | 12 or 24 consecutive statements | Account statements for eligible assets |
| Business account rules | At least 25% ownership, expense ratio applied | Business funds do not count |
| Occupancy | Primary, second home, investment | Allowance path: primary and second home only |
| Maximum leverage | Ladder by size and occupancy | 80% maximum on the allowance path |
| Reserves | 3, 6 or 9 months by loan size | 3, 6 or 9 months by loan size |
| Entity vesting | Varies by program and occupancy | Varies by program |
| Prep effort | Pulling every page of every account | Gathering and verifying asset statements |
Programs differ on the finer points, so treat the table as a map and not a promise. Many details, such as entity vesting for investment property, depend on the specific program.
Key Terms Defined
Expense ratio: the share of business deposits the lender removes to approximate operating costs before counting income.
Eligible assets: liquid holdings the program accepts, such as checking, savings, brokerage and discounted retirement accounts.
Depletion period: the number of months the lender divides eligible assets across to produce monthly income.
Reserves: liquid money you must still hold after closing, separate from the assets used to qualify.
IOLTA: a lawyer’s pooled trust account for nominal or short-term client funds.
Why Attorney Income Reads Oddly
Attorney income rarely fits a tax return cleanly. Write-offs and retirement contributions lower the return. Contingency fees arrive in lumps. Equity partners may leave earnings inside the firm, and some law firms run several operating accounts.
Trust money is the trap that is specific to lawyers. Client funds in an IOLTA account are not yours. Under Model Rule 1.15 as discussed by LeanLaw, firm money should not sit in trust beyond a small bank-fee allowance.
For a mortgage file, that means two things. Trust statements should stay out of the package, and only the earned-fee transfer into your operating or personal account counts. A trust balance is also not an eligible asset on the asset path.
When Bank Statement Is the Better Fit
A bank statement loan fits the attorney whose income is real but invisible on paper. Across our network, the strongest candidates share a few traits.
You have steady deposits. A solo practitioner or small-firm owner with a consistent flow of fees is the classic case. The lender totals eligible deposits over 12 or 24 months, strips out transfers and non-income credits, and divides by the statement months.
You take money out through a personal account. Partner draws and distributions that land in your personal account are personal-statement income. Transfers from your own business into a personal account count at 100% through select wholesale programs, with no expense ratio applied. For a partner, this is often the cleanest path.
You use business statements. Business accounts need at least 25% ownership. The lender then applies a fixed expense ratio, which is set by the size and type of the business: a service business with no employees sits on the lightest ratio, while firms with staff or any product business sit on higher ratios. An accountant-provided ratio or a profit-and-loss method, capped at 80%, is another route.
Your cash flow is lumpy. A 24-month window usually represents a contingency practice better than a 12-month window. Large settlements followed by quiet stretches average out over the longer period. An underwriter may ask you to explain the case cycle.
You want to buy a rental. Asset depletion is a primary and second home path. Bank statement files, by contrast, can run on investment property. Investment-property leverage runs about five points below primary residence at every size, so check the ladder before you assume a number.
You want more leverage. On a primary residence purchase, the ladder runs 90% to $1,000,000, 85% to $2,000,000, 80% to $3,000,000 and 75% at the top credit tier to $4,000,000. Above $4,000,000, every file is reviewed case by case before submission. The bank portfolio program carries twelve-month-statement files to $30,000,000, and its ladder is 65% to $5,000,000, 60% to $10,000,000 and 55% to $30,000,000, also case by case.
The tradeoff is the expense ratio. It shrinks business deposits before they count, so a staffed firm gives up more than a solo practice. Bank statement files also depend on consecutive statements, so a gap in the history becomes a problem you have to explain.
When Asset Depletion Is the Better Fit
Asset depletion fits the attorney whose balance sheet is stronger than their deposit history. Scotsman Guide, a mortgage trade publication, describes asset-depletion programs as calculating repayment ability from liquid or investment assets, where bank statement programs read 12 to 24 months of deposits.
You just changed your situation. An attorney who left a firm, sold a practice or started a solo shop may not yet have a long deposit history. Programs differ on how much history they want, and assets can bridge that gap.
Your firm retains earnings. An equity partner whose compensation sits mostly inside the firm shows modest personal deposits. Personal brokerage and retirement holdings can carry the file instead.
You want to buy a primary or second home. The allowance path is limited to those occupancies, at 80% maximum leverage.
The math has three settings through select wholesale programs. A divisor of 36 months applies as a supplement when your DTI is at or below 60%. A divisor of 60 months applies as a supplement when DTI is above 60%. A divisor of 84 months applies when assets stand alone or the loan exceeds $3,500,000. A longer divisor spreads the same portfolio thinner, so each step up gives you less monthly income from the same balance.
There is also an assets-only path with no DTI calculation. It requires U.S. liquid assets equal to the loan amount plus closing costs, plus sixty months of any net loss on other residential property. That path suits an attorney with heavy student debt and a large balance. Credit, reserves and the property still get reviewed.
Know what counts and what does not:
- Retirement accounts count at 70%, or 80% at age 59½ and older.
- Business funds, including firm capital accounts, do not count.
- Gifts, unvested stock and cryptocurrency do not count.
- Trusts other than a revocable living trust do not count.
- Trust account balances belonging to clients are never yours.
- The funds you use for the down payment and closing costs are not available to count twice, and reserves must be held separately.
Asset depletion ties up liquidity. The assets that qualify you also have to stay on hand, and reserves of 3, 6 or 9 months by loan size must sit on top of them. Cash-out proceeds cannot satisfy reserves on super-jumbo files. If you plan to spend that portfolio on the down payment, the math shrinks quickly.
Same Attorney, Two Calculations
Consider a hypothetical equity partner buying a primary residence. Her tax return shows modest income after write-offs and retirement contributions. Her distributions land in a personal account each month, and she holds a sizable brokerage account outside the firm.
On the bank statement path, her personal-account distributions count in full over the statement window, with no expense ratio. If she instead used the firm’s business account, the lender would apply an expense ratio and her ownership share. That could produce a very different number from the same practice.
On the asset path, the brokerage balance, less funds needed for the purchase and reserves, is divided by 36, 60 or 84 months. Her firm capital account counts for nothing, and so do the client funds in trust.
The lesson is that neither number is the right answer by default. One path may show a coverage picture that clears her DTI limit comfortably. The other may fall short. A broker who runs both before choosing offers a safeguard in the process.
A newly independent attorney might flip the result. With short deposit history and a large rollover balance, the asset path often does the work that the statements cannot yet do.
Where a Rental Purchase Fits
If the real goal is a rental, a third option exists. A DSCR loan tests the property’s rent against its debt and not your personal income. It qualifies primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. Our complete DSCR loans guide walks through how that works.
Rental purchases are business-purpose loans, and business-purpose credit is reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage. The Cornell Legal Information Institute text of 12 CFR 1026.3 shows the exemption for business credit and for credit extended to non-natural persons such as an LLC. Whether an LLC can take title depends on program eligibility.
For primary and second homes, the CFPB’s ability-to-repay compliance guide says a creditor may consider assets other than the dwelling that secures the loan. That is why the asset method is a recognized way to show repayment ability. It does not set a formula, so the divisors and expense ratios vary by program.
Tax treatment can depend on how the funds are used and how the property is held; investors should keep clear records and speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction.
Which Attorney Fits Which Path?
Here is how these profiles tend to sort across the programs we place files with:
- Solo practitioner: bank statements, often on the lightest expense ratio. Add assets if deposits are thin.
- Small-firm owner: bank statements, with the expense ratio and ownership share as the swing factors.
- Equity partner: personal-account distributions on bank statements, or assets if the firm retains earnings.
- New or short-history partner: assets as a bridge while the deposit history builds.
- Contingency litigator: a 24-month bank statement window, or assets to smooth the lumps.
- Of-counsel or semi-retired: assets, since retirement balances drive the file.
Many of these overlap. The strongest files may test both paths.
What to Gather First
For a bank statement file, collect every page of every account you plan to use, for 12 or 24 consecutive months. Transaction histories do not substitute for statements. Gather ownership documents for business accounts and a profit-and-loss statement or accountant letter if you want one of those methods.
For an asset file, collect current statements for each eligible account. Separate the money you need for the down payment, closing costs and reserves. Remove firm funds, trust funds and anything unvested.
For both, keep your credit in good shape. The portfolio program sets a 660 credit floor, the bank program 680, and super-jumbo files 700. Debt-to-income can run to 50% on the statement path. Above $3,500,000 on a primary residence, and $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property, added overlays apply. They include a 700 credit floor, a 0x30x24 housing history and 48-month seasoning on any credit event. Borrowers must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, with no non-occupant co-borrowers and no rural property.
The Verdict
Choose the bank statement loan when your deposits are your best evidence, you want a rental, or you want the highest leverage ladder. Choose the asset depletion loan when your balance sheet is your best evidence and the home is for you or the family. Neither beats the other on every file.
The deciding questions are simple. Where does your money show up, in your accounts or in your holdings? What will the property be used for? How long is your history on the current path? A broker who can run both calculations and a DSCR check gives you the honest comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does asset depletion mean I have to sell my investments?
No. Depletion is a qualifying convention, not a requirement to spend anything. The lender divides eligible assets across a set number of months to produce notional income, and your holdings stay where they are. They do need to stay available, and reserves must be held separately.
Do trust or client funds count on either loan?
No. Client money in an IOLTA account is not your income or your asset. Only an earned fee that moves into your operating or personal account counts as deposits. Keep trust statements out of the package.
Can I use retirement accounts?
Yes, through select wholesale programs. They count at 70%, or 80% at 59½ and older, under the asset paths. Earlier withdrawal penalties are one reason programs discount them.
What if I only recently became a partner?
It depends on your deposit history and your assets. A short history may favor the asset path as a bridge. A longer personal-account distribution record may favor bank statements. Test both.
Can I buy a rental with an asset depletion loan?
The allowance path is for primary and second homes only. For a rental, bank statements or a DSCR loan are the usual routes. Each is subject to program guidelines and full underwriting.
Next Step
If you are financing a high-balance property on your assets or deposits rather than traditional personal-income documentation and want to see how the numbers work, Lendmire can help you compare super jumbo options based on your liquid assets, deposits, the property, credit profile, leverage and goals. Lendmire’s consumer lending is licensed in 16 states, so confirm availability for your property’s location.
For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s super jumbo bank statement loan programs page.
The two wholesale programs behind the figures above are a portfolio non-QM bank-statement program that carries files to $6,000,000 and a bank portfolio jumbo program that carries twelve-month-statement files to $30,000,000.
Self-employed borrowers can compare both super jumbo programs on Lendmire’s self-employed mortgages page.
About Lendmire
Lendmire, NMLS# 2371349, is a mortgage brokerage focused on investor financing, arranging DSCR loans in 40 states plus Washington, D.C. — 41 markets total. Qualification is based on the property’s income rather than personal income documentation, subject to lender guidelines, making it a fit for LLC-held rentals and scaling portfolios. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
2. Scotsman Guide, non-QM mortgage coverage
3. CFPB ATR/QM Small Entity Compliance Guide
This article is part of Lendmire’s super jumbo bank statement loan program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Super Jumbo Bank Statement Cash-Out Refinance for Maximum Loan Size · Bank Statement Loan vs Full-Doc Mortgage for Attorneys · Bank Statement Loan vs Conventional Jumbo for Self-Employed Buyers
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Disclosure information. Lendmire is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage under NMLS# 2371349. Lendmire is not a depository institution, direct lender, or financial advisor — all loans referenced are placed through wholesale lender partners and are subject to each lender's underwriting standards. This article is provided for general informational purposes and is not a commitment to lend, nor does it constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. Loan programs, terms, rates, and qualification standards change without notice and depend on borrower profile, property type, and the state in which the subject property is located. Equal Housing Opportunity provider. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.