Yeah, automation definitely has its quirks. Had a similar experience with a client whose bonus payments threw the system off completely—it took ages to sort out. Got me thinking, though: how much flexibility can lenders realistically build into these automated checks without compromising accuracy or compliance? Seems like a tricky balance between streamlining processes and accommodating real-world scenarios...
"Seems like a tricky balance between streamlining processes and accommodating real-world scenarios..."
Yeah, that's exactly it. When I refinanced a couple years back, my overtime payments caused similar headaches. The system flagged them as irregular income, even though I'd had consistent OT for years... definitely room for improvement there.
Haha, overtime payments... tell me about it. When I moved houses last year, the bank practically treated my freelance side gig like I was selling lemonade on weekends. Never mind that I'd been doing it steadily for five years—apparently, "steady" means something different in mortgage-land? Makes you wonder if anyone designing these systems has ever had a job outside the 9-to-5 bubble. Maybe someday they'll catch up with reality... or is that wishful thinking?
I get the frustration, banks can definitely be rigid about freelance income. But to be fair, from their perspective, freelance earnings can fluctuate quite a bit—even if yours haven't. I've seen clients whose freelance work dried up overnight, so banks tend to play it safe. It's not ideal, but they're managing risk. Maybe someday they'll find a better balance between caution and reality... but I'm not holding my breath.
Been there myself, and yeah, banks can be tricky. One thing that helped me was prepping a solid paper trail—tax returns, invoices, bank statements—basically anything to show steady income. Bit of a hassle, but it smoothed things over eventually... Hang in there!
