01
Current rent
Lease and receipt for the month
Identify the period paid and the recurring contractual amount.
Property evidence · field guide
A tenant deposit is not recurring rent
Separate refundable deposits, advance rent and monthly rent so a move-in payment does not inflate coverage.
Sources checked November 1, 2026 · Educational document review · No loan offer
Build the evidence before choosing an input
02
Refundable deposit
Lease deposit clause and deposit ledger
Record the obligation separately; local handling and return rules need jurisdiction-specific advice.
03
Advance rent
Lease clause identifying the future period
Track the month it covers so it is not counted again when that month arrives.
Fictional move-in receipt
An authored teaching record; amounts and situations are fictional, not market statistics or actual borrower files.
- First month’s rent: $2,000. Refundable security deposit: $2,000. Advance last-month rent: $2,000.
- Total cash received now: $6,000. Recurring contractual monthly rent remains $2,000.
- The $6,000 receipt is not evidence of a $6,000 monthly income stream.
Keep three ledger lines and the future month covered by the advance payment.
Turn the record into a usable next step
- 1
Read the lease and label each part of the receipt by obligation and covered period. Ask for clarification where the wording conflicts with the ledger.
- 2
Reconcile cash without treating the refundable deposit as free operating money. Confirm local deposit rules with a qualified professional.
- 3
Provide the separated record to the lender and tax preparer. The lender’s income treatment and tax recognition timing are distinct determinations.
What this evidence does not settle
IRS Publication 527 says a deposit expected to be returned is not income when received, while a deposit designated as final rent is advance rent. That tax explanation is not permission to use tenant funds or a DSCR underwriting rule.
Sources and scope
- IRS — Publication 527 (2025), Residential Rental Property
Rent, deposits, repairs and improvements for federal tax reporting; not a lender underwriting formula.
Read November 1, 2026. This is the check date, not a new effective date for the source.
The review steps are DSCRDealCheck’s editorial checklist. Agency guides and consumer mortgage explainers define documents and concepts; they do not establish a DSCR provider’s program rules or guarantee that consumer disclosure requirements apply to business-purpose financing. See the transaction-scope distinction in Regulation Z. Confirm the actual file with the provider and the relevant qualified professional.
Continue the property evidence review
Choose the unresolved document in your file. Each guide addresses a different input or obligation.