Reported Income on Credit Card Applications

[Anonymous]

My company restructured their pay scale for upper level management and above about a month ago.  I went from hourly to salary and the raise in yearly pay was rather significant.  Everyone was shocked, but that's what happens when every other company in the industry pays more than you do and you lose your talent left and right.  Anyway...

I have two paystubs to prove this raise in income and of course my company would provide me documentation if I requested it.

I cannot seem to find any sort of consistancy with how income is verified.  For instance, I've read that NFCU asks for a couple paystubs.  Got that.  I just read that Capital One just needs one paystub.  Then I read that AMEX will verify via tax forms.  Well, my last year tax forms will show I made much less than my current income so that could present a problem.

The raise may gain me some better CLIs on my current cards and better SLs on cards I plan on applying for soon.  I don't wish to commit any fraud and to me it seems that it can be proven the income I put down was in good faith, because it IS my yearly salary.

What's the bottom line here?  Thank you.

Edit:  I just realized this probably belongs in the applications section.  Appologies to the mods.

[Anonymous]

The few times I've been asked for it, it's either the two most recent pay stubs, or last years tax return.

The tax return doesn't really help my case because I was promoted at the beginning of Q4 last year, and again at the end of Q1 this year with a switch to salary, and a raise at the end of Q2.

Granted, nobody has asked me for POI since any of this...

Anyway, yeah either last year's tax info, or previous 2 pay stubs is usually what they will want.

[jawbrkr]

Capital One has never asked me for any pay stubs but I believe Amex did ask me for permission to either verify my income or my taxes the very first time I applied. That was over two years ago so I dont recall what exactly it was they asked for. 

[Anonymous]

Congratz on the "money" increase!

When I claim anything, I want to be able to prove it.

I always have the two most recent pay stubs available as documentation.

I also include both Bonus & Incentive pay stubs if they are close or in between the two  pay stubs, to explain where the numbers come from.

Personally I use a monthly average over 12 months, and I use closer to the lower end, which is closer to pay stubs and intentionally understate total income.  Never had a problem or been questioned.

I have been entertained by some posters on this site, posting in pain, (never acknowledging they can't document the amount they submitted) look for ways around their claims of income.

If you are in a position to wait until you have at least two pay stubs available with the new "data", that would quickly resolve any questions you may encounter, and you wouldn't have to explain anything.

again, CONGRATZ ! ! !

.

[Anonymous]

Ive always wondered if this is a real thing? if lenders look at how much you make. Do they want exact numbers?

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@Anonymous wrote:

My company restructured their pay scale for upper level management and above about a month ago.  I went from hourly to salary and the raise in yearly pay was rather significant.  Everyone was shocked, but that's what happens when every other company in the industry pays more than you do and you lose your talent left and right.  Anyway...

I have two paystubs to prove this raise in income and of course my company would provide me documentation if I requested it.

I cannot seem to find any sort of consistancy with how income is verified.  For instance, I've read that NFCU asks for a couple paystubs.  Got that.  I just read that Capital One just needs one paystub.  Then I read that AMEX will verify via tax forms.  Well, my last year tax forms will show I made much less than my current income so that could present a problem.

The raise may gain me some better CLIs on my current cards and better SLs on cards I plan on applying for soon.  I don't wish to commit any fraud and to me it seems that it can be proven the income I put down was in good faith, because it IS my yearly salary.

What's the bottom line here?  Thank you.

Edit:  I just realized this probably belongs in the applications section.  Appologies to the mods.

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@Anonymous wrote:

My company restructured their pay scale for upper level management and above about a month ago.  I went from hourly to salary and the raise in yearly pay was rather significant.  Everyone was shocked, but that's what happens when every other company in the industry pays more than you do and you lose your talent left and right.  Anyway...

I have two paystubs to prove this raise in income and of course my company would provide me documentation if I requested it.

I cannot seem to find any sort of consistancy with how income is verified.  For instance, I've read that NFCU asks for a couple paystubs.  Got that.  I just read that Capital One just needs one paystub.  Then I read that AMEX will verify via tax forms.  Well, my last year tax forms will show I made much less than my current income so that could present a problem.

The raise may gain me some better CLIs on my current cards and better SLs on cards I plan on applying for soon.  I don't wish to commit any fraud and to me it seems that it can be proven the income I put down was in good faith, because it IS my yearly salary.

What's the bottom line here?  Thank you.

Edit:  I just realized this probably belongs in the applications section.  Appologies to the mods.

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[Anonymous]

As long as you truthfully state what you currently make you should have no problems.  Amex and others are well aware of job changes and increases of income, so they are not as "hard" when you tell them and provide POI increase thru your company (a simple memo states that).

My philosophy is always tell the truth and that way there is no problem

[rmduhon]

Guess I've gotten lucky that we've never been asked for POI, even though I do tell the truth. And that's across multiple cards, personal loan and an auto loan.

[SunriseEarth]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My company restructured their pay scale for upper level management and above about a month ago.  I went from hourly to salary and the raise in yearly pay was rather significant.  Everyone was shocked, but that's what happens when every other company in the industry pays more than you do and you lose your talent left and right.  Anyway...

I have two paystubs to prove this raise in income and of course my company would provide me documentation if I requested it.

I cannot seem to find any sort of consistancy with how income is verified.  For instance, I've read that NFCU asks for a couple paystubs.  Got that.  I just read that Capital One just needs one paystub.  Then I read that AMEX will verify via tax forms.  Well, my last year tax forms will show I made much less than my current income so that could present a problem.

The raise may gain me some better CLIs on my current cards and better SLs on cards I plan on applying for soon.  I don't wish to commit any fraud and to me it seems that it can be proven the income I put down was in good faith, because it IS my yearly salary.

What's the bottom line here?  Thank you.

Edit:  I just realized this probably belongs in the applications section.  Appologies to the mods.

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IMHO, you're putting the cart before the horse.   If you want to apply for CLIs, you should use your current income reflecting the pay raise.   If proof is requested, the accepted method will vary with lender.   I've only ever been asked for proof of income once, and it was early in my rebuild.  Cap One wanted paystubs to approve a CLI request made through the EO, so I submitted them.  

[Glen_M]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ive always wondered if this is a real thing? if lenders look at how much you make. Do they want exact numbers?

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Not most of the time.  When I worked for USBank/Elan I processed lots of CLI requests, most of them were approved, no proof of anything necessary.  For the small portion that were denied a much smaller portion may have needed income verificaiton -- more were probably related to high balances and poor payment history.  Most of them are handled by a computer anyway, and it doesn't care if you ballpark the numbers.