Solo attorney · 4 yrs · 735 · 24-mo bank statement
| Borrower | Solo personal-injury attorney (contingency fees) |
| Self-employed | 4 years |
| Credit | 735 |
| Program | 24-month business bank-statement loan |
| Price | $710,000 (illustrative) |
| Down payment | 20% |
| State | GA |
| Outcome | Approved |
The scenario
Four years into a solo personal-injury practice, this attorney's income arrived in lumps: months of modest hourly work punctuated by settlement fees of $40,000 to $120,000. The two most recent tax years happened to split a large case award unevenly, making the conventional two-year average look weak and volatile at once.
A 24-month business bank-statement program read the operating account instead and averaged the lumps into a steady figure. The file worked because the accounts were disciplined: client settlement funds lived exclusively in the IOLTA trust account, and only earned fees moved — in labeled, one-to-one transfers — into operating. The underwriter never needed to open the trust account, and with a 735 score and 20% down the loan cleared with two letters of explanation.
What made it work
- 24-month window smoothed contingency-fee lumps that a 12-month or two-tax-year view distorted
- Strict IOLTA/operating separation — only earned fees, cleanly labeled, entered the analyzed account
- Two large deposits pre-documented with settlement statements before the underwriter asked
- 20% down and post-closing reserves offset the income variability
Lessons you can use
Pick the window that matches the income shape
Contingency practices live and die by the averaging window. Twenty-four months captured two full settlement cycles; twelve would have caught either a spike or a drought. For lumpy earners, choosing the window is as consequential as choosing the program.
Trust money must never touch the analysis
Client funds in an IOLTA account are not income, and statements that mix them with fees stall or sink bank-statement files. The one-to-one, labeled fee transfers meant every analyzed deposit had an obvious source — the underwriting equivalent of clean hands.
Pre-explain the lumps
Any deposit far above the monthly norm draws a letter-of-explanation request. Attaching settlement statements to the two biggest deposits at submission turned what could have been a two-week conditions cycle into a same-day check-off.
Your next step
If this scenario rhymes with your situation, start with Mortgages for solo & small-firm attorneys for the full picture, then run your own numbers with the Bank statement income estimator. Every real application is different — use these scenarios to learn the patterns, then confirm specifics with a licensed loan officer.
This profile is a composite educational scenario created by Mortgage Merlin editorial staff — not a real person, transaction, or testimonial. Figures are illustrative and not a quote, pre-approval, or offer of credit. Mortgage Merlin is a publisher, not a lender or broker.