One-Time RSU Mortgage Income: Which Grants Count?

A one-time restricted stock unit (RSU) award can count as mortgage income under Fannie Mae’s rules, but its purpose matters. A restricted-stock sign-on bonus is excluded even when it vests over several years. For an otherwise eligible one-time, time-based award, the lender must establish receipt history and sufficient remaining vesting. As of October 20, 2026, the required three-year continuance period begins at application. These distinctions appear in Fannie Mae’s restricted-stock requirements.

Confirm the applicable program with your loan officer before applying these requirements to a Freddie Mac, jumbo or other loan. Our mortgage eligibility and underwriting collection provides broader context.

Classify the award before calculating income

RSUs are a form of employer equity compensation. For mortgage qualification, separate three questions: why the employer granted the award, what conditions govern vesting, and whether the employer makes additional grants.

The guide treats these categories separately. A schedule showing future installments therefore cannot settle eligibility by itself.

Annual vesting does not establish recurring grants

Consider a hypothetical award issued once and divided into five annual installments. Five distribution dates show how that award pays out; they do not demonstrate five separate grants. The distinction is between recurring awards and recurring payments from one award.

Records organized by grant identifier and grant date, with each grant’s vesting dates listed separately, help the lender distinguish successive awards from successive payments. Do not assume an anticipated future grant will replace documented remaining vesting.

Receipt history and continuance answer different questions

History looks backward at compensation received. Continuance looks forward at income expected to remain available. A borrower can have substantial past receipts yet insufficient future vesting, or a long future schedule but too little receipt history.

Time-based awards require at least 12 months of income history with the current employer. Performance-based awards have a different standard: two years is recommended, with at least 12 months potentially acceptable when positive factors offset the shorter history. Performance-based awards also generally require no separate continuance verification unless contrary information exists. These standards appear in the guide’s history and continuance provisions.

Fannie Mae’s broader framework requires lenders to establish that income is stable, supported by receipts and reasonably likely to continue. Meeting a calendar threshold alone does not establish the reliability of projected payments. The lender evaluates the income and supporting records together under its general income requirements.

The October 7 change starts the clock at application

Announcement SEL-2026-09, issued October 7, 2026, changed the three-year reference point from the note date to the application date, effective immediately. Its separate December 2, 2026 application-date requirement concerns employment verification for certain Schedule K-1 income and does not delay the RSU change. Both provisions appear in the October announcement.

For a hypothetical application submitted October 20, 2026, the three-year endpoint is October 20, 2029. A later closing does not move that endpoint under the revised rule. The lender still needs evidence supporting expected income throughout the period; one distant vesting date is not a substitute for reviewing the full schedule.

Assemble records that explain the award and its payments

Begin with the grant agreement and any offer letter or employer explanation identifying the award’s purpose. If the paperwork is ambiguous, ask the employer to clarify it. Then collect:

• A current vesting schedule showing both completed and upcoming vesting.
• Brokerage or bank records establishing prior-year distributions and the vested share counts or cash equivalents.
• Evidence that the stock trades publicly.

These distribution and marketability requirements were established in Fannie Mae’s December 2023 announcement and remain in the October 2026 section. Eligible income must have vested and reached the borrower without restrictions.

The current documentation alternatives are Form 1005 showing distributions, or the latest paystub showing restricted-stock income plus two years of W-2s. Payments in shares also require a 200-day average price. These requirements appear in the current documentation table.

The linked edition of Form 1005, Request for Verification of Employment, is dated July 1996. If the lender uses it for a first mortgage, the lender sends the request directly to the employer and receives the completed verification directly back. The borrower provides authorization rather than carrying the completed verification between them.

The lender also verifies employment. The October announcement permits reasonable, verifiable methods appropriate to the income type while retaining existing timing requirements.

Before submitting the records, identify which grant produced each distribution and flag payments missing from a payroll or account record. Our guide to resolving income-verification discrepancies explains how to approach conflicting records.

Calculate qualifying income only after eligibility is established

For payments in shares, the calculation uses the 200-day average price multiplied by gross vested shares distributed over the latest 24 months, divided by 24. For cash payments, it uses gross distributions over the same period, divided by 24. With 12–24 months of history, the lender may instead use the actual months received. These are the guide’s calculation rules.

Hypothetical illustration: Assume the lender has confirmed an eligible one-time, time-based award, sufficient future vesting, stable income and all required records. The borrower has 18 months of documented receipts, and the lender elects to use that period. Suppose 360 shares were distributed before tax withholding and the documented 200-day average price is $80:

360 × $80 ÷ 18 = $1,600 in monthly qualifying income.

The grant’s advertised value covers a different set of shares, while a brokerage balance reflects what the borrower currently owns. Neither can replace the distribution history and price used in this calculation. The $1,600 measures qualifying income under the stated assumptions; it does not represent spendable monthly cash or promise approval.

When preparing to buy a home, ask the lender to identify the accepted grants and resulting monthly income before setting a purchase budget around equity compensation.