No Income No Asset (NINA) Mortgages

Perhaps born out of some of the abuses which took place with respect to the stated income mortgages, no income no asset (“NINA”) mortgages emerged to ease the concern of borrowers having to extremely overstate income in order to qualify for a home loan.

It was not uncommon to hear of stated income loans with borrowers claiming monthly income in excess of $20,000 per month. While there are both employed and self-employed borrowers who truly make this amount of income, it was a bit of a stretch to state this income for a butcher, baker or candlestick maker. This made borrowers a bit uncomfortable and, as a result, somewhat reluctant or unwilling to state these outrageously high incomes. Hence, the advent of the NINA mortgage. A mortgage that typically requires that borrowers have exceptional credit scores as well as extremely low loan to value ratios.

With this type of loan, a borrower is not required to address either current income or current assets on the loan application…….those items are appropriately left blank. Much like the stated income mortgages, in the eyes of the lender, the NINA mortgage has a higher degree risk than a mortgage that meets standard underwriting guidelines. Because of this, a NINA mortgage will typically carry a slight interest rate premium over a fully documented loan.

Back to Top