What the form is and how it moves
Form 1005 is the industry-standard written verification of employment. The lender fills in the request block, identifies itself, and sends the form to the employer. The employer completes the employment dates, position, current and prior earnings, probability of continued employment, and any additional compensation, then signs, titles and dates the response and sends it back to the lender.
The chain of custody is the control. A written VOE that reaches the employer by way of the borrower, or returns to the lender by way of the borrower, has lost the property that made it worth obtaining. Reviewers look for the fingerprints of that: a fax banner from a borrower’s address, an email thread that includes the borrower, a handwritten correction in a different hand, an employer contact number that appears nowhere except on a document the borrower supplied.
Fannie Mae also publishes a Spanish-language version, Form 1005(S), for the borrower-facing portion. The lender still routes the request and receives the response.
The sections a reviewer reads
| Section | What it establishes | What QC compares it to |
|---|---|---|
| Lender request block | Who is asking and where the response returns | The lender of record on the note, not a broker or a processor personal address |
| Borrower authorization | Consent for the employer to release the information | Signature and date consistent with the application |
| Dates of employment | Hire date and, for a former employer, the separation date | The employment history on the URLA and the paystub period |
| Present position and probability of continuation | Stability of the income used to qualify | The underwriter’s stability analysis and any AUS message |
| Current base pay and pay period | The base figure and its frequency | The qualifying income calculation and the paystubs |
| Year-to-date and prior year earnings | Trend and total compensation | W-2s, transcripts, and the averaging period used |
| Additional compensation | Overtime, bonus, commission, other | Whether variable income was averaged over an acceptable period |
| Employer signature, title and date | That an authorized person at the employer responded | The completeness requirement, and the date relative to closing |
Reverification in post-closing QC
A written VOE in the file is an origination control. Post-closing quality control asks a different question: does an independent contact with the employer, made after closing, still support the income and employment the loan was approved on.
Treat the reverification as a stateful process rather than a document. The record should hold, separately:
- The employer identified independently, with the source of the contact information stated.
- The request itself, dated, and the channel used.
- The response received, with the responder’s name and title.
- The comparison against the original verification, expressed as a result rather than a note.
- Any exception, follow-up, second request, or documented inability to obtain a response.
- Any approved waiver, with who approved it and under what plan provision.
A generated request is not a completed reverification, and a system that reports both with the same status is hiding the finding you were looking for.
Common defects
| Condition | Typical severity | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence the form passed through the borrower | Material | The independence of the verification is lost |
| Employer contact sourced only from the borrower | Material | A recurring fraud pattern, not a clerical issue |
| Earnings on the VOE do not support the qualifying income | Material | Goes directly to the approval decision |
| Missing employer signature, title or date | Moderate | The response cannot be attributed to an authorized person |
| Probability of continued employment left blank | Low to moderate | Depends on whether stability was otherwise documented |
| Reverification requested but never followed up | Moderate to material | An open control at cycle close |
Where third-party verification services fit
Many lenders obtain employment and income data from a verification service rather than a paper 1005. That is generally acceptable where the guide permits it, and it changes what QC has to retain. Keep the report the service returned, the date it was pulled, the employer record it matched, and the identifier that ties it to the borrower. A screenshot without a date and a subject identifier is not reviewable.
For the full cycle this control belongs to, read the post-closing QC checklist, and for the agency framing, Fannie Mae post-closing QC requirements.
Keep decisions human and evidence explicit.
Translate guidance into a review record that preserves what happened, who decided, and which source controlled.
Confirm requirements against current source material.
Requirements and vendor capabilities change. These sources were reviewed July 31, 2026. Confirm current source material, product scope, commercial terms, and your approved QC plan before changing a production process.
What mortgage teams usually ask.
What is Fannie Mae Form 1005?
It is the Request for Verification of Employment, the standard written VOE. The lender completes the request section and sends it directly to the employer, the employer completes the employment and earnings sections, and the employer returns it directly to the lender.
Can the borrower carry the form to the employer?
No. The value of a written VOE is that it travels between the lender and the employer without passing through the borrower's hands. A form that shows evidence of borrower handling is generally treated as unacceptable, and reviewers look for it.
Is a verbal VOE the same thing?
No. A verbal VOE is a documented telephone or independent-source confirmation of employment, usually close to closing. It serves a different purpose from the written 1005 and does not carry the same earnings detail.
Does post-closing QC have to reverify employment?
Fannie Mae requires the lender to reverify the income and employment documentation used to qualify the borrower for loans in the post-closing QC sample. The acceptable form of reverification depends on what documentation was used, so read the current D1-3 text before setting your procedure.