What Form 91 covers
Form 91 walks the same tax documents an underwriter would read on their own, in the order Freddie Mac expects the analysis to happen. Its structure follows the return rather than the borrower.
| Source | Return and schedule | What is being established |
|---|---|---|
| Sole proprietorship | Form 1040, Schedule C | Net profit adjusted for non-cash and non-recurring items |
| Capital gains and losses | Form 1040, Schedule D | Whether any of it recurs and whether the underlying asset remains |
| Rental real estate and pass-through | Form 1040, Schedule E | Net rental income, and income reported from partnerships and S corporations |
| Farm income | Form 1040, Schedule F | Net farm profit with farm-specific non-cash adjustments |
| Partnership or LLC | Form 1065 with Schedule K-1 | Ordinary income, guaranteed payments, and business stability |
| S corporation | Form 1120-S with Schedule K-1 | Ordinary income, W-2 wages already counted, and distributions |
| Corporation | Form 1120 | Whether corporate earnings can be used and on what evidence |
The stability question Freddie Mac asks
Freddie Mac frames self-employed income as a stability determination rather than an averaging exercise. The worksheet produces a number, and the guide then asks whether the number represents income the borrower is reasonably likely to continue receiving. That framing changes what the file must contain.
- Length of self-employment. How long the business has operated, and whether the borrower’s history in the same line of work supports a shorter operating period.
- Trend. Increasing, stable or declining, and what the underwriter concluded from it. A declining trend used without comment is a finding.
- Business viability. Whether the business can continue to generate the income at the level used.
- Access. Whether pass-through income is actually available to the borrower.
- Consistency with other file evidence. Deposits, transcripts, business licenses, and the borrower’s stated occupation.
Where Form 91 and Form 1084 diverge
Teams that run both agencies get into trouble by treating the worksheets as one procedure with two logos. The practical differences that matter in a review:
- The two guides describe the documentation requirements for a one-year versus two-year history in different terms.
- Rental income is handled on a separate Freddie Mac worksheet, Form 92, rather than inside the main worksheet.
- The treatment of specific add-backs and the required evidence for using business income are stated differently in each guide.
- Each agency has its own automated income assessment path, and the relief associated with it is agency-specific.
The safe operating rule is to select the worksheet by delivery destination, record which one was used, and never let a reviewer recalculate a Freddie Mac loan against Fannie Mae logic. A QC finding produced that way is wrong and will be rebutted, correctly.
What post-closing QC preserves
- The completed worksheet or its equivalent calculation, with every input line.
- The tax returns and K-1s used, identified by entity, year and page.
- The stability conclusion and its stated basis.
- The averaging period and the reason for it.
- The reviewer’s recalculation, the variance, and the guide section cited.
- The disposition, including any accepted rebuttal and who approved it.
Common defects
| Condition | Typical severity | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Recalculated income fails the approved ratios | Material | The decision is not supported by the documentation |
| Declining income used with no stability analysis | Material | The guide requires the determination, not just the average |
| Rental income calculated inside the wrong worksheet | Moderate | Produces a figure the guide does not support |
| Missing K-1 or business return for an entity used | Material | The income cannot be supported |
| Worksheet completed but not retained | Moderate | The calculation is not reperformable |
For the Fannie Mae side of the same problem, read Form 1084 cash flow analysis. To work the figures through, use the free self-employed income calculator. For the surrounding cycle, the post-closing QC checklist.
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 Freddie Mac Form 91?
Form 91 is the Income Calculations worksheet Freddie Mac publishes to support the analysis of a self-employed borrower's tax returns under Guide Section 5304.1. Like Fannie Mae Form 1084, it is an aid rather than a required document.
Is Form 91 interchangeable with Fannie Mae Form 1084?
They serve the same purpose but they are not interchangeable. The two agencies differ on stability analysis, on the treatment of certain add-backs, and on documentation requirements. Use the worksheet that matches the guide the loan is being delivered under.
What is Freddie Mac Form 92?
Form 92 is the Net Rental Income Calculations worksheet, used for rental income reported on Schedule E. Form 91 and Form 92 are commonly used together when a self-employed borrower also owns rental property.
Does a QC reviewer have to redo the calculation?
Post-closing QC has to reverify the documentation used to qualify the borrower and confirm that the underwriting decision was supported. For self-employed income that generally means recalculating from the returns in the file, because a documentation-present check cannot detect an income overstatement.