The Problem: Why Private RSU Employees Are Told Their Income Doesn’t Count

A Common Question With a Complicated Answer

An employee at a large private company sits down with a loan officer to discuss buying a home. The base salary is solid. The equity compensation is substantial. On paper, the total compensation package reflects a well-paid professional with strong earning potential.

Then the loan officer explains that the RSUs cannot be counted.

For many borrowers, this comes as a surprise. The equity is real. The company is real. The vesting schedule is documented. The issue is that private RSU income does not fit the standard documentation requirements that most mortgage lenders work within.

This situation is more common than most people realize. Tens of thousands of employees at companies like Stripe, SpaceX, Databricks, OpenAI, Anthropic, Revolut, and Anduril are in this position. These are established, well-funded organizations valued at ten billion dollars or more. Their employees are among the most highly compensated professionals in the country. And a meaningful portion of that compensation, the private RSU component, falls outside the scope of standard mortgage qualification guidelines.

Understanding why this happens, and what options exist, starts with understanding how private RSUs work and what mortgage guidelines are designed to evaluate.

A restricted stock unit is a grant of company shares that vests over time. At a publicly traded company, those shares have a clear, verifiable market value the moment they vest. A lender can reference the stock price, review the vesting history, and calculate qualifying income using a documented method.

At a private company, the situation is different. The shares are not traded on any exchange. There is no published daily price. The company’s valuation is based on the most recent funding round, secondary market activity, or internal estimates. Those figures do not meet the documentation standards that conventional mortgage guidelines are built around. Using RSUs to Qualify for a Mortgage: The Complete Guide for 2025

Private RSUs also typically carry a double-trigger vesting structure. The first trigger is time. Shares vest on a schedule, often over four years. The second trigger is a liquidity event: an IPO, an acquisition, or a company-sponsored tender offer. Until that second trigger occurs, the shares vest on paper but the employee has no straightforward way to convert them to cash. Double-Trigger Vesting: Why There Is Often No Income on Paper Yet

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac set the guidelines that govern most conventional mortgage loans in the United States. Both agencies require that RSU income come from publicly traded stock. Their income calculation method uses a 200-day moving average stock price, a figure that does not exist for a private company. When a lender is working within those guidelines, private RSU income generally cannot be included in the qualifying calculation. Why Most Lenders Can’t Help: Conventional Loans Require Publicly Traded Stock

This is a documentation and guideline issue, not a reflection of a borrower’s financial strength. A software engineer at a major private company earning a strong base salary plus significant RSU compensation is a capable borrower. The challenge is that the RSU portion of that compensation requires a different type of lender and a different approach.

This is also a specialized area of mortgage lending. Most loan officers do not regularly work with private RSU income and are not familiar with the programs that can accommodate it. Using RSUs to Qualify for a Mortgage: The Complete Guide for 2025 covers the broader RSU landscape, but private company equity requires an additional layer of expertise and lender access.

The disconnect between what a private RSU employee earns and what a lender can document has grown as private companies have stayed private longer. A decade ago, the typical path for a high-growth technology company was to go public within five to seven years of founding. Today, many of the largest private companies have been operating for ten years or more.

The result is a growing group of employees whose total compensation is real and substantial but whose income profile does not fit neatly into conventional mortgage systems. Base salary alone qualifies some borrowers for the loan amounts they need. For others, the RSU component is significant enough that finding a lender who can work with it makes a meaningful difference.

For borrowers at the largest and most established private companies, there are options. They are not conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and they are not widely available through retail lenders. But they exist, and they are designed specifically for this borrower profile.

Bridgepoint Funding works with a network of portfolio lenders. These are institutions that hold loans in their own portfolio rather than selling them to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Because these lenders are not bound by agency guidelines, they have more flexibility in how they evaluate private RSU income.

The program has specific eligibility requirements and is not available through every mortgage company. The primary threshold is company size. Borrowers must work at a private company with a valuation of ten billion dollars or more. That requirement reflects the lender’s need for confidence that the company is financially stable, that liquidity events are realistic, and that the underlying equity has genuine value.

Beyond the valuation threshold, eligibility is reviewed case by case. Factors include the borrower’s base salary, the vesting history of their private RSUs, whether any distributions have already been received through tender offers or secondary sales, and the overall strength of the borrower’s financial profile. Which Private Companies With $10 Billion-Plus Valuations May Qualify

Borrowers who work with Bridgepoint Funding on this type of loan are typically employees at well-established private companies. Stripe, SpaceX, Databricks, Anthropic, OpenAI, Revolut, Anduril, Scale AI, Canva, Chime, Fanatics, Klarna, Rippling, and Plaid are among the companies most commonly seen in this context. These organizations have established equity programs and, in many cases, a history of providing employees with access to some form of liquidity.

A lender declining to count private RSU income under conventional guidelines is not the same as a borrower being unable to qualify. It means the borrower needs a lender whose guidelines are structured differently.

Timing is also a factor. Private RSU borrowers who have already received distributions through a tender offer, a secondary sale, or a prior liquidity event are generally in a stronger position. Documented, received income is more straightforward to work with than projected future vesting.

Documentation matters as well. The application process for a private RSU mortgage is more involved than a standard loan. Vesting schedules, equity grant agreements, records of any distributions received, and evidence of the company’s valuation all contribute to the file. What You Need to Apply: A Documentation Guide for Private RSU Borrowers

This is also a specialized area of lending. Not every loan officer works regularly with private RSU income, and access to the right lender network makes a practical difference in what is possible. Top 7 RSU Mortgage Mistakes to Avoid in 2025

Private RSU employees at large private companies have a compensation profile that does not fit standard mortgage guidelines. That is a documentation issue, not a qualification issue. Conventional loans follow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines that require publicly traded stock. Most lenders work within those guidelines. For borrowers with private RSU income, a portfolio lender with the right program is the appropriate path.

Bridgepoint Funding has access to those programs. This is a niche area of lending, and it is not something every mortgage company offers. For private RSU holders at companies valued at ten billion dollars or more, it is worth a conversation to understand what is possible.

If you are an employee at a large private company and want to understand how your RSU compensation factors into a mortgage application, Bridgepoint Funding can walk you through what is possible based on your specific situation. Reach out at (925) 478-8630 or at bpfund.com to get started.

• Why Most Lenders Can’t Help: Conventional Loans Require Publicly Traded Stock
• Double-Trigger Vesting: Why There Is Often No Income on Paper Yet
• Which Private Companies With $10 Billion-Plus Valuations May Qualify
• Tender Offers, Liquidity Events, and Timing Your Home Purchase
• What You Need to Apply: A Documentation Guide for Private RSU Borrowers
• FAQ: Can I Use Private RSU Income to Buy a House?]

• Using RSUs to Qualify for a Mortgage: The Complete Guide for 2025
• How Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Treat RSU Income in 2025
• Top 7 RSU Mortgage Mistakes to Avoid in 2025
• Documentation Checklist: Proving RSU Income for Mortgage Approval

Mike Trejo is the Broker/Owner of Bridgepoint Funding, a residential mortgage brokerage based in Pleasant Hill, California. With more than 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry, Mike has helped thousands of borrowers navigate the home loan process, including many healthcare professionals and travel nurses with non-traditional income profiles.

Mike founded Bridgepoint Funding in 2006 and is consistently ranked among the Top 1% of Mortgage Loan Originators nationwide. Reach out at (925) 478-8630 or visit bpfund.com.