Debt-to-income ratio (DTI)

The FHA requires a DTI of less than 50, meaning that your total monthly debt payments can't be more than 50% of your pretax income. This includes debts that you aren't actively paying. For student loans in deferment, your FHA loan underwriter will include 1% of the loan's total as the monthly payment amount. For other types of loans that you aren't currently repaying, underwriters will use 5% of the loan's total to calculate your DTI.