Getting a Mortgage While on Maternity Leave

Yes, you can get a mortgage while on maternity leave. Lenders treat it as temporary leave, so they can count your regular pay if you will be back at work by your first mortgage payment. If you return later, they count your leave pay plus savings to cover the gap, and federal law bars them from asking about your plans to have children.

Below, you’ll find the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA rules, an example at 60% pay, the documents to gather, and your fair lending rights.

Can you get a mortgage while on maternity leave?

Yes. In agency guidelines, maternity leave falls under “temporary leave.” Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide B3-3.3-09 defines it as leave that is “generally employee-initiated, short in duration,” including “maternity or parental leave.” The leave can be paid or unpaid. Also, if your employer confirms you are on leave, the lender “must consider the borrower employed.”

Pay during leave can come from your employer, a short-term disability policy, or a state paid leave or disability program where your state has one. However, many workers get no paid leave. In March 2026, 49% of private industry workers had access to paid family and medical leave, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

So the question that matters most is your return date. Will you be back at work by the first mortgage payment?

How lenders count temporary leave income

For a mortgage while on maternity leave, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and USDA use nearly the same test. If you are back by the first payment due date, the lender may use your regular pay. If you return later, it uses your leave pay and may add savings to fill the gap. For other pay types, see our guide to income for a mortgage.

Fannie Mae’s temporary leave income rule

Fannie Mae’s rule reads: “If the borrower will return to work as of the first loan payment date, the lender can consider the borrower’s regular employment income in qualifying.”

If you will not be back by then, “the lender must use the lesser of the borrower’s temporary leave income (if any) or regular employment income.” However, the lender may then add a “supplemental income” amount from your savings. The formula works like this:

• Available liquid reserves: your verified liquid assets minus the down payment, closing costs, any required debt payoff, escrows and the minimum required reserves.
• Months of supplement: the months from the first payment date to the date your regular paychecks resume, rounded up.
• Supplemental income: available reserves divided by those months.
• Total qualifying income: supplemental income plus your leave income. It can’t be more than your regular income.

Fannie Mae also says the lender “must not receive any evidence or information” from your employer showing you lack the right to return.

Freddie Mac, FHA and USDA rules compared

In each case, money needed for the down payment, closing costs or required reserves can’t double as the supplement. Freddie Mac’s Guide Section 5303.3 also says leave stops being temporary if you don’t intend to return or your employer hasn’t committed to taking you back. VA’s lender handbook (Pamphlet 26-7) has no separate temporary leave income rule in its income and underwriting chapter, so ask a VA lender how it handles leave.

Worked example: a mortgage while on maternity leave at 60% pay

This hypothetical uses Fannie Mae’s rule. Lenders may add stricter overlays.

Assumptions:

• Regular income: $6,000 a month.
• Leave pay: 60% of regular pay, or $3,600 a month.
• Monthly shortfall: $6,000 minus $3,600, or $2,400.
• The loan closes March 15, and the first payment is due May 1.
• Regular paychecks resume April 15, one month after closing.

What the lender may use: You are back at work before the May 1 first payment. As a result, the lender may qualify you on the full $6,000 a month.

Months of shortfall in reserves: None. Under the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA rules, a borrower back before the first payment needs no supplement. You still need the down payment, closing costs and any required reserves.

If your return slips: Now say your regular paychecks restart July 1, two months after the first payment. To qualify on the full $6,000, you would need $4,800 in available reserves ($2,400 times 2 months), on top of the money needed to close.

With only $3,000 available, though, the supplement would be $1,500 a month ($3,000 divided by 2). Your qualifying income would then be $5,100 ($3,600 plus $1,500). That raises your debt-to-income ratio and can shrink the loan you qualify for.

Documents to have ready

To apply for a mortgage while on maternity leave, gather these:

• Your written statement that you intend to return to work, with your expected return date. Freddie Mac accepts a signed letter or an email from you.
• Employer documentation that confirms your leave and your return date or right to return. Examples include an approved leave request, a Family and Medical Leave Act form, or a letter from your HR office or its leave administrator.
• Pre-leave income proof: recent pay stubs, W-2s and, if your lender asks, tax returns.
• Proof of leave pay, if any, showing the amount and how long it lasts. This might be a disability benefit notice or a state program award letter.
• Bank and investment statements for any savings that will supplement your income.

Also expect the lender to call your employer shortly before closing. Fannie Mae requires a verbal verification of employment no more than 10 business days before the note date (Selling Guide B3-3.1-04). Our guide to mortgage underwriting covers the rest of the review.

Your rights: what a lender can and cannot ask

Two federal laws protect a pregnant mortgage application: the Fair Housing Act, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) with its Regulation B, 12 CFR part 1002.

What a lender may not ask or assume

• Childbearing plans. Under 12 CFR 1002.5(d)(3), a creditor “shall not inquire about birth control practices, intentions concerning the bearing or rearing of children, or capability to bear children.”
• Assumptions about lower income. Under 1002.6(b)(3), a lender may not assume that a group of people will have children “or will, for that reason, receive diminished or interrupted income in the future.”
• Discounting your pay. Under 1002.6(b)(5), a lender may not discount or exclude your income because of sex or another prohibited basis.
• Future leave. Fannie Mae’s rule adds that if you are not on leave now, “the lender must not ask if they intend to take leave in the future.”

The Fair Housing Act’s familial status protection applies to “any person who is pregnant” (42 U.S.C. 3602(k)). In May 2017, HUD announced an agreement with Wescom Central Credit Union resolving a couple’s allegation that it denied their loan because the wife was on maternity leave. In that release, HUD said refusing a mortgage because a woman is pregnant or on family leave “violates the Fair Housing Act’s prohibition against sex and familial status discrimination.”

What a lender can ask

Once the lender knows you are on leave and needs your income, the rules require documentation. As a result, it can ask for your written intent to return, your return date, your leave pay and your employer’s confirmation. It may also ask the number and ages of your dependents, but only if it asks without regard to sex, marital status or another prohibited basis.

How to file a complaint

If you think a lender treated you unfairly because of pregnancy or leave, contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau online or at (855) 411-2372. You can also contact HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at (800) 669-9777. Meanwhile, keep copies of emails, denial notices and employer letters.

When to apply: before, during or after leave

Your closing date matters more than your application date, because the lender reverifies employment just before closing.

Before your leave starts

Pay stubs show full income, and the file looks like any other. Still, if closing lands during your leave, the temporary leave rules apply anyway. So get your employer’s leave letter early.

During your leave

This works well if you will be back by the first payment date. If not, you need enough savings to cover the shortfall after paying to close, and unpaid leave raises that amount.

After you return

Your pay stubs show full pay again, so the file is simplest. On the downside, you may wait months while prices and rates change.

If you will not return to work

If you plan to stay home, the temporary leave rules no longer apply, and the lender won’t count that job’s income. You still have options:

• Qualify on a partner’s income. If your spouse or partner applies with you, the lender can use their income. Regulation B lets a lender ask about a spouse when you rely on the spouse’s income to repay.
• Use other income. Some other income types, such as alimony, child support or part-time work, can count if they meet the program rules.
• Lower the payment. For instance, a bigger down payment, a lower price, or paying off a car loan can bring your debt-to-income ratio in line.
• Keep strong reserves. Extra savings after closing don’t replace income, but underwriters can treat them as a strength.

If you are buying on one income, our guide to home loans for single moms covers programs and down payment help.

Before you apply

First, get your employer’s letter with your return date. Then ask a lender which first payment date your closing would produce. With those two dates and your savings, you can see what income counts for a mortgage while on maternity leave and compare lenders on the same file.

FAQ: Getting a mortgage while on maternity leave

Does being on maternity leave affect a mortgage application?

It can change the income a lender counts, but it does not disqualify you. If you are back by the first payment, the lender may use your regular pay; otherwise, it uses leave pay plus savings. A personal “maternity leave loan” is a separate product that this guide does not cover.

Will being pregnant affect my mortgage application?

Pregnancy alone should not affect it. Regulation B bars lenders from asking about plans to have children or assuming your income will drop. Likewise, the Fair Housing Act protects people who are pregnant. Only an actual leave at closing brings in the temporary leave rules.

Can a lender ask if I will return to work after maternity leave?

It depends on timing. If you are not on leave, Fannie Mae says the lender must not ask whether you plan to take leave. If you are already on leave and your income is needed, the lender must get your written intent to return and your employer’s confirmation.

What is Fannie Mae’s maternity leave rule?

It is Selling Guide B3-3.3-09, Temporary Leave Income. In short, back by the first payment date means regular income counts. Later returns mean the lesser of leave or regular income, plus a reserves supplement capped at regular income.

Can I get a mortgage on parental leave or paternity leave?

Yes. Fannie Mae’s definition covers “maternity or parental leave,” and Freddie Mac’s covers family and medical leave. Thus, the same rules apply to any parent on temporary leave with a right to return.