If you are searching for a loan that requires very little submission of financial information, no doc loans may be just what you are looking for.  This term actually refers to home loans that suffer less favorable rates in exchange for the advantage of greater privacy.  While at first glance, it may seem to you that this is something of interest only to international spies and serial killers who have just had plastic surgery to change their faces, no doc refinance loans and no doc mortgage loans have advantages for Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Homebuyer as well.

Typically, when you apply for a loan, your loan officer will dawn the rubber gloves and go prospecting with a variety of disclosure requests, wanting to see everything from your financial statements to personal documentation all the way, down to what you ate for breakfast that morning.  If you are the sort of enterprising person who does not receive a steady paycheck but instead obtains income by freelancing, contracting, or translating Japanese adult comics for PayPal donations, you may not want to lay the full truth of your finances out on the table where prying eyes can see.  A no doc loan is therefore tailor made for you.

No doc home equity loans are often called “low-doc” loans because they require low amounts of documentation. No doc is actually a misnomer- no loan requires any documentation, unless you are getting it from the sort of loan agent who takes meetings in the back of a strip club.  There are three main types of no doc loans, each more wonderful than the last:

Stated-income loans are for individuals who are employed but do not receive a salary or wages from an employer. This includes self-employed people or those making a living off commissions or tips.  This could also be referred to as the “Stripper/Salesman No Doc Loan”.  If you are paid but it does not show up on the bottom line of your income taxes, this is the choice for you.

No ratio loans are for well-to-do bigwigs who play croquet and burn Benjamin’s to light their cigars.  If you have a complicated financial life and an ulcer the size of New Jersey (or if you are in the midst of a divorce or other financial tumult), you can choose this option and declare no income at all.  You simply list assets instead and they lend to you based on what you already have, not what you have coming.

No-income/no-asset verification loans require the least documentation.  You probably need to show up with nothing but your name and your credit score, and if both are in order, you may well find yourself on the fast track to acceptance.  These loans have some of the higher rates you will encounter, and loan officers typically do not recommend them for that reason.  That does not mean that no doc loans are the wrong choice for you.  If you are looking to pay a little extra for non-disclosure, no doc loans are the right choice.