low-doc loan

noun

A loan or mortgage where the borrower provides only limited proof of their income.

Meanings

nounlow-doc loan (plural low-doc loans)

plural low-doc loans · alternative low doc loan

  1. AustraliaUSbankingA loan or mortgage where the borrower provides only limited proof of their income.

    This kind of “no-doc loan” and its cousin, the “low-doc loan,” became quite prevalent. By 2006, low-doc loans accounted for more than one-third of all subprime mortgage originations.

    2011, Robert W. Kolb, The Financial Crisis of Our Time, page 56
    2 more examples

    2006, The Bulletin, Issues 6536-6544, page 61, “You can see it here in mortgages. Low-doc loans used to carry at least 1% or more of risk premium. As everybody [piled] in, that has been driven down to half a percent. These people do not have a verifiable income, and yet you can only expect them to be charged half a percent more on the interest rate.”

    In a no-doc or low-doc loan, the lender doesn′t require you to bring proof of your income, but you will usually have to pay a higher interest rate or extra fees to get the loan. Lenders generally charge more for no-doc/low-doc loans.

    2007, Barry Leonard, Consumer Handbook on Adjustable-Rate Mortgages, page 9

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

low-doc loan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/low-doc%20loan

MLA

“low-doc loan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/low-doc%20loan. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “low-doc loan,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/low-doc%20loan.

Source: low-doc loan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.