VA Form 26-6393 Loan Analysis: Residual Income, DTI, and Filing

VA Form 26-6393, the Loan Analysis worksheet, is the document your lender’s underwriter completes to decide whether you qualify for a VA-guaranteed home loan. You don’t fill it out yourself, but every figure on it comes from paperwork you provide, and the two numbers it produces — your residual income and your debt-to-income ratio — determine the outcome. Knowing what the form captures lets you bring the right documents, catch errors before they reach the underwriter, and understand where you actually stand.

Who Fills It Out

The lender’s underwriter populates the form inside their loan origination software. You can download a blank copy from the VA’s forms page at va.gov if you want to see the layout, but you will never hand one in yourself.1Veterans Affairs. VA Form 26-6393 Your job is to deliver clean documentation and then review the completed form for accuracy before it moves to final underwriting.

Documents to Bring Your Lender

Gathering these before your first meeting with the loan officer cuts out most of the back-and-forth that stretches a VA loan timeline.

  • Income verification. Active-duty service members need their most recent Leave and Earnings Statement. Veterans and civilian co-borrowers should have W-2s and complete federal tax returns from the past two years. If you receive VA disability compensation, Social Security, or retirement pay, bring the award letters or benefit statements that show the monthly amount.
  • Self-employment records. The VA prefers two years of self-employment history, though an underwriter can work with one full year if you have prior employment or education in the same field. Business tax returns are required, and the lender may ask for a year-to-date profit and loss statement. Depreciation claimed on your returns can be added back to net income for qualifying purposes.2U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Credit Standards Course – Income
  • Monthly debt statements. Credit cards (showing minimum payments), auto loans, student loans, and any personal loans. The lender pulls your credit report, but your own records help you catch discrepancies early.
  • A childcare letter. The VA treats childcare as a job-related debt. Your lender needs either documentation of the expense (with the provider’s name and address) or a letter explaining why you have none. The underwriter will also check that your current arrangement makes sense given the location of the new home.3U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Credit Standards Course – Debts
  • Court-ordered obligations. Divorce decrees, separation agreements, or orders for alimony and child support, with payment history.
  • Asset documentation. Recent bank statements for checking and savings, plus investment and retirement account statements. The VA does not require cash reserves for most standard single-unit purchases, but lenders often ask for them when your credit score is below 620, your DTI is above 41%, or you are buying a multi-unit property.

What Each Section Captures

The form runs six sections. Knowing what lives where makes it easier to spot a mistake when you review the completed worksheet.4Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Form 26-6393 – Loan Analysis

  • Section A, Loan Data. Your name, the loan amount, cash down payment, your age, occupation, and years at your current employer.
  • Section B, Personal and Financial Status. Liquid assets, current monthly housing expense, your spouse’s age and occupation, and the ages of your dependents. The number of dependents feeds directly into the residual income threshold you have to meet.
  • Section C, Estimated Monthly Shelter Expenses. Projected costs of the new home: principal and interest, property taxes, hazard insurance, special assessments, and any HOA or condo fees. A separate line captures estimated maintenance and utilities, typically calculated at $0.14 per square foot of living area.
  • Section D, Debts and Obligations. Every recurring monthly debt with its payment amount and unpaid balance. Childcare is listed here.
  • Section E, Monthly Income and Deductions. Gross pay for both borrower and spouse, plus pension, disability compensation, and any other income. Federal and state income taxes, Social Security, and Medicare are subtracted to reach net take-home pay. The form then subtracts the debts from Section D and the shelter expenses from Section C to arrive at the Balance Available for Family Support, which is your residual income.
  • Section F, Disposition and Underwriter Certification. Whether an automated underwriting system was used and which one, your median credit score, CAIVRS status (a federal database flagging borrowers who have defaulted on government debt), the underwriter’s assessment of your credit, and the approve-or-reject decision with signatures.

How Your Income and Net Pay Get Calculated

Section E is where most of the arithmetic happens, and it is the section most likely to carry an error that costs you an approval. The lender enters gross monthly income from every verified source: base pay, overtime (if you have a two-year track record), bonuses, disability compensation, retirement pay, and rental income. For self-employed borrowers, the underwriter averages net business income over the documented period and can add back depreciation.2U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Credit Standards Course – Income

From that gross, the lender deducts federal and state income taxes based on your current withholding, Social Security at 6.2%, and Medicare at 1.45%. What’s left is your net take-home pay. The form then subtracts Section D debts and Section C shelter costs, and the remainder is your residual income.

Check the tax deductions carefully. Lenders sometimes default to single-filing-status withholding even when a borrower files jointly, which understates take-home pay and makes residual income look worse than it is. If you spot this, ask the lender to recalculate using your actual filing status.

Residual Income: The Number That Usually Decides It

Residual income is what’s left each month after your mortgage, taxes, debts, and other obligations are paid. The VA treats this as a more reliable affordability measure than the debt-to-income ratio alone, because it reflects whether you can actually cover groceries, clothing, and transportation after the bills come out.

The minimum you need depends on household size and the region of the country where the home sits. The VA splits the country into four regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) and publishes separate tables for loans above and below $80,000. Almost all purchases today clear that threshold, and the figures below are for loans of $80,000 or more.5eCFR. 38 CFR 36.4340 – Underwriting Standards, Processing Procedures, Lender Responsibility, and Lender Certification

  • 1 person: $450 Northeast, $441 Midwest, $441 South, $491 West
  • 2 people: $755, $738, $738, $823
  • 3 people: $909, $889, $889, $990
  • 4 people: $1,025, $1,003, $1,003, $1,117
  • 5 people: $1,062, $1,039, $1,039, $1,158

For households of six or seven, add $80 per additional person above five. “Family” includes everyone living in the household, not just the dependents you claim on your taxes. Ask your lender which region the property falls in before you assume anything; the lists are grouped by state and don’t always track the geography people expect.

The 41% DTI Benchmark and Compensating Factors

The VA’s debt-to-income benchmark is 41%. Your ratio is total monthly obligations (mortgage, taxes, insurance, HOA, and all recurring debts) divided by gross monthly income. If the result is 41% or less, the box gets checked. If it goes higher, the underwriter does not automatically reject the file but has to document compensating factors that justify the elevated ratio.5eCFR. 38 CFR 36.4340 – Underwriting Standards, Processing Procedures, Lender Responsibility, and Lender Certification

Compensating factors are financial strengths that offset the risk of a heavier debt load. The VA Lender’s Handbook lists examples: excellent credit history, significant liquid assets after closing, a large down payment, long-term stable employment, little or no consumer debt, residual income well above the regional minimum, prior homeownership experience, and tax benefits from the new mortgage. The underwriter notes these in the remarks area of Section F.

This is where residual income and DTI meet. A borrower at 45% DTI with residual income well above the minimum looks very different from one at 45% DTI who barely clears the threshold. Many lenders apply an internal rule requiring residual income to exceed the guideline by at least 20% when DTI is above 41%. For a family of four in the Midwest, where the standard is $1,003, that means roughly $1,204 before a higher ratio gets a comfortable approval.

What Happens After Submission

Once the underwriter completes the form and confirms every figure matches your supporting documentation, the loan package is transmitted electronically to the VA. A Staff Appraisal Reviewer separately issues a Notice of Value after reviewing the property appraisal, and the lender cannot close until you receive a copy.6Department of Veterans Affairs. Request Appraisal and Issue Notice of Value If the appraised value comes in below your purchase price, you can renegotiate, bring cash to cover the gap, or walk away.

Once both the loan analysis and the appraisal clear, the lender issues a final loan commitment and the file moves into closing preparation. From a completed Form 26-6393 to closing typically runs two to four weeks, longer if there are income documentation issues or an appraisal dispute. If the underwriter rejects the application, the remarks in Section F should state why, and your lender can tell you whether resubmission with corrected documentation or additional compensating factors is realistic.