Under Two Years Self-Employed: What You Can and Cannot Do Yet

You left the job. The business worked. Fourteen months in you are earning more than you did as an employee and you have the deposits to prove it.

And every lender has told you the same thing: come back at two years.

That is the general rule. There is a written exception, and there is a set of things to do with the intervening months that most people waste.

The general rule

From CMG Financial's Non-QM Sharp Series guidelines (NMLS #1820, revised 09/21/2026), across the self-employed documentation routes:

Validation of a minimum of two years existence of the business from one of the following: business license, letter from tax preparer, Secretary of State filing, or equivalent.

Two years, documented. That is the standard, and for most businesses it holds.

The exception that reaches to one year

Here is the paragraph almost nobody quotes:

Self-employed borrower income in a licensed profession, for instance medical, legal or accounting, will be considered from a business that has been in existence for less than two years but greater than one year, if the borrower has at least two years of documented previous experience in the same profession, or evidence of formal education in a related field.

Three conditions, all of which have to be true:

1. A licensed profession. Medical, legal and accounting are the named examples.
2. More than one year of business existence. The floor moves to one year, not to zero.
3. Either two years of documented prior experience in the same profession, or formal education in a related field.

So the attorney who spent six years at a firm and hung a shingle fourteen months ago qualifies. The physician who left a hospital group to start a practice qualifies. The CPA who went out on their own after years in a firm qualifies.

This is exactly the population that gets told no most often, because the person telling them is applying the general rule without reading the exception.

If you are in a licensed profession and between one and two years in, ask for this specifically. By name.

What does not reset your clock

Two things people assume restart the two years and do not:

Restructuring. A business is considered continuous if the business name changed within the last two years, or if it restructured, for instance from sole proprietor to LLC or S-Corp. That continuity rule does not apply to the DSCR program, but it applies here.

So incorporating last year did not erase your three years as a sole proprietor. Document the continuity and the clock keeps running.

A name change. Same rule. Rebranding is not starting over.

Bring the documentation that shows the through line: the old filings, the new filings, and a letter from your tax preparer connecting them.

If the exception does not reach you

There are real options and there is one honest answer.

A co-borrower with qualifying income. If a spouse or partner has documentable W-2 income, the file can be built on that, with your business income treated as additional rather than essential. This is the most common practical solve.

Asset based qualification. If you have substantial liquid assets, asset depletion or asset qualifier programs do not use employment income at all. Minimum $450,000 in qualifying assets across both programs, assets seasoned 120 days, and a borrower using asset depletion or asset qualifier cannot use other sources of employment income. Note these are not available on the Sharp Standard tier.

Your prior W-2 history. If you left a job recently and the business is young, some structures can still use the employment history. That is a file-level conversation and worth having before you conclude nothing works.

Waiting. Sometimes this is the answer, and a lender who says so is doing you a favor. Six months of waiting that produces a clean approval beats six months of applications that produce declines and inquiries.

What to do with the months in between

If you are waiting, these months are not dead time. Do all of this:

Separate your accounts now. Co-mingling of personal and business accounts is not permitted in personal bank accounts, and evidence of co-mingling will require the loan to be qualified as a business bank statement loan, which means the expense factor applies whether you want it to or not. Separating accounts today preserves an option worth real money in twelve months.

Keep every month positive at month end. Accounts with an end-of-month negative balance are not permitted under the Laminr income tool and will result in a refer for manual review. One overdrawn month-end inside your qualifying window is enough to change how the file is handled.

Build the paper trail on business existence. Business license, Secretary of State filing, a dated letter from your tax preparer. Get them now while they are easy to obtain.

Do not run your deposits down. Twelve or twenty-four consecutive months of statements will be read, most recent available at application. The months you are living through are the months that will be underwritten.

Watch your ownership documentation. Minimum ownership is 25%, documented via CPA letter, operating agreement or equivalent, and on business bank statements qualifying income is multiplied by your ownership percentage.

The order of questions

1. Is my profession licensed, in the medical, legal or accounting sense the guidelines name?
2. Has the business existed more than one year?
3. Do I have two years of prior experience in the same profession, or formal education in a related field?
4. If not, did I restructure or rename an older business, and can I document the continuity?
5. If none of that applies, do I have a co-borrower, or assets, or should I spend six months preparing properly?

Four of those five are answerable today.

Common questions

How long do I need to be self-employed to get a mortgage? Two years of documented business existence is the standard, evidenced by business license, tax preparer letter, Secretary of State filing or equivalent.

Is there an exception for less than two years? Yes. Income from a licensed profession such as medical, legal or accounting is considered from a business in existence more than one year but less than two, if you have at least two years of documented prior experience in the same profession or formal education in a related field.

I changed my business from a sole proprietorship to an LLC. Did my clock restart? No. A business is considered continuous through a name change within the last two years or a restructure. That continuity rule does not apply to the DSCR program.

What can I do while I wait? Separate personal and business accounts, keep every month-end balance positive, gather business existence documentation, and do not spend down the deposits that will be underwritten.

Can I qualify on assets instead? Possibly. Asset depletion and asset qualifier programs require a minimum of $450,000 in qualifying assets seasoned 120 days, and you cannot use employment income alongside them. They are not available on every program tier.

Related reading

• Self-employed and business owner home loans, the full index for this topic
• Self-Employed Home Loan FAQ: What Actually Qualifies a Business Owner
• Write-Offs and Qualifying Income: The Trade Every Business Owner Makes Without Knowing
• 12 or 24 Months of Bank Statements: Which Period Qualifies You for More

Why bring this file to us

• We check the licensed profession exception first. It reaches back to one year and most lenders do not know it is there.
• We count business continuity correctly. A restructure or a name change does not reset your clock, and plenty of borrowers are told it does.
• We tell you when the honest answer is wait, and exactly what to do with the months in between.
• Broker model. Multiple investors rather than one bank's shelf, which is what a file like this needs when the first answer is no.
• You talk to the principal. Ricky Khamis is President of EPiQ Lending and a Certified Mortgage Planner, NMLS #173141, originating mortgages since 1999. Direct line: (480) 999-9842.

EPiQ Lending is NMLS #1936984, at 7975 N. Hayden Road, Suite A-101 in Scottsdale. Verify all of it before you trust any of it: Ricky's EPiQ Lending profile, the Scottsdale branch, and the license itself at NMLS Consumer Access. Hold every lender to that standard, including us.

Tell me when the business started and what you did before it, and I will tell you whether the one year exception reaches you.

Program figures in this post come from the CMG Financial (NMLS #1820) guideline set named above, as published on the revision date given. CMG Financial is the parent company of EPiQ Lending. These figures describe one investor's program at one point in time. Other investors price and underwrite the same borrower differently, guidelines change without notice, and nothing here is an offer of any specific program or terms. Confirm current eligibility on your own file before you plan around any of it.

Equal Housing Opportunity. This is general information, not a commitment to lend or an offer to extend credit. Rates, terms, and program guidelines change and depend on credit approval, property appraisal, income and asset verification, and other qualifying factors. Not all applicants will qualify. Non-QM, asset-based and business purpose financing carry different pricing, terms and consumer protections than agency financing. Consult your tax advisor regarding the tax treatment of any income or distribution strategy.