Fairway Mortgage Targets Non-Traditional Earners with Expanded Lending

The Madison-based firm is positioning itself to capture this segment by accepting alternative income documentation, such as bank statements, 1099 forms, and asset depletion. According to Paola Kielblock, Fairway’s President of Products, the company is stripping away the friction typically associated with non-traditional loans by applying the same underwriting speed and service standards used for conventional mortgages. The strategy relies heavily on empowering loan officers to identify creditworthy borrowers whose financial profiles simply do not fit rigid agency guidelines.

Branch managers within the organization report that these products are reshaping their business pipelines. Trevor Higgins, a Fairway Branch Sales Manager, notes that entrepreneurs often struggle to qualify for conventional loans because they maximize tax deductions, which lowers their reported income. By utilizing bank statements or profit-and-loss records, loan officers can bypass these hurdles. For the loan officers themselves, the platform offers a distinct competitive advantage, with some managers estimating that integrating these products can add several loans per month to their production volumes.