# Verification of Deposit Form: VOD Instead of Statements

- Author: TrueBankFlow (https://truebankflow.com)
- Published: 2026-10-17
- Category: Statements in the loan file
- Canonical: https://truebankflow.com/blog/verification-of-deposit-form

> How a verification of deposit form replaces bank statements, what the bank fills in, why VODs get rejected and when lenders still want statements.
A verification of deposit form, or VOD, is a request a lender sends straight to the borrower's bank, which fills in the account's balances and returns it directly. It can replace bank statements as asset proof because the borrower never handles it. It shows balances, not transactions, so lenders still want statements when deposits need a source.

## What does a verification of deposit form replace in a loan file?

A verification of deposit form replaces the asset part of the bank statement review: proof that the account exists, that the borrower owns it, and that it holds a stated balance. It does not replace the transaction review. A VOD cannot show which deposits arrived, from whom, or which bills leave the account each month.

For conventional loans, Fannie Mae's Selling Guide topic on [verification of deposits and assets](https://selling-guide.fanniemae.com/sel/b3-4.2-01/verification-deposits-and-assets) names Form 1006 as the VOD and treats it as one route for documenting depository assets, alongside statements. The lender picks the route that fits the file. A borrower who cannot produce clean statements, or whose statements arrive as poor scans, may be easier to document with a VOD.

FHA files follow HUD's handbook instead of the Selling Guide, and the role of the VOD there is not the same. The comparison in [how FHA bank statement requirements differ from Fannie Mae](/blog/fannie-mae-bank-statement-requirements#how-do-fha-bank-statement-requirements-differ-from-fannie-mae) lays out both sides.

### What a VOD is good at

A VOD is strongest on authenticity. Because the bank completes it and returns it to the lender, there is no PDF for anyone to edit. It is also useful for accounts that issue statements only every three months, where the latest statement may already be weeks old. The post on [quarterly bank statements for a mortgage](/blog/quarterly-bank-statements-for-mortgage) covers that timing problem in more detail.

### What a VOD is weak at

A VOD is weak on history. A single balance on a single day says nothing about how the money got there. If the underwriter's question is "where did this come from?", the form cannot answer it.

## What the bank fills in on a VOD form

The bank's part of a VOD reports the account as its records show it on the day the form is completed. Most forms ask for the account type and number, the current balance, an average balance, the date opened and any loans the bank holds for the borrower.

A bank officer then signs and dates the form.

Each of those fields answers a different underwriting question:

- **Account type and number** tie the form to the account listed on the application.
- **Current balance** is the number that supports funds to close or reserves.
- **Average balance** shows whether the current balance is normal for the account or a recent spike.
- **Date opened** flags a new account, which usually needs a source for its opening funds.
- **Loans held by the bank** can reveal a debt that is missing from the credit report.
- **Signature, title and date** let the lender confirm who completed it and when.

The average balance field is the one borrowers rarely expect. A checking account that usually holds $3,000 but shows $28,000 today will have that gap printed on the form, and the underwriter will ask about it.

## How the VOD form travels between lender and bank

The lender sends the verification of deposit form to the bank, and the bank sends it back to the lender. The borrower signs an authorization so the bank can release the information, but the completed form should never pass through the borrower's or the broker's hands.

Fannie Mae's guide says the complete, signed and dated document must be sent directly from the depository institution. When the lender relies on a blanket authorization signed by the borrower, it attaches a copy of that authorization to each Form 1006 it sends. A form that arrives by the borrower's email, or with the broker's fax header, has broken that chain and will usually be redone.

### Typical steps

The sequence below is an example of how a VOD request runs. Each lender's process differs in detail.

1. The borrower signs an authorization for each bank on the application.
2. The processor completes the lender's part of the form: borrower name, account numbers, return address.
3. The lender sends the form to the bank's deposit verification contact, not to a branch teller.
4. The bank completes, signs and returns it to the lender.
5. The processor checks every field against the application before it goes to the underwriter.

Banks answer at their own pace. A VOD can come back in two days or sit for two weeks. Processors who send VODs on day one avoid making them the last open item.

## Why do lenders reject a verification of deposit form?

Lenders reject a verification of deposit form when it could have been altered, when it is incomplete, or when it raises a question it cannot answer. The usual defects are a broken chain of custody, blank fields, a missing signature or date, a name that does not match the borrower, and a balance far above the stated average.

### Chain of custody

Anything that suggests the form passed through the borrower or broker ends the review. That includes a return address belonging to the broker, a handwritten balance in a different ink, or a scan sent from a personal email.

### Missing fields

A blank average balance or date opened leaves the underwriter guessing. Some banks skip fields they consider private. The processor can send the form back, or fall back to statements for that account.

### Age

A VOD shows a balance on one day, and that day ages. A form completed early in the process may be too old by the time the loan closes. Lenders set their own limits, and the program guide governs.

### Accounts held at the lender

A borrower who banks with the same institution that is making the loan is a special case. Fannie Mae's guide lets that lender use a printout or other alternative verification from its own system, provided it supplies all the required data. A VOD sent from one department to another adds nothing. The processor should still check that the printout names the borrower, shows the account number and gives a balance with a date, since an internal screen capture can miss the same fields a home-printed history does. The underwriter reads it the same way as an outside VOD.

### Mismatch with the application

If the borrower listed $45,000 in savings and the VOD shows $12,000, the file has a problem bigger than the form. Either the borrower moved money, listed the wrong account, or expects funds that have not arrived.

## VOD forms on accounts with large recent deposits

A verification of deposit form on an account with a large recent deposit shows the gap without explaining it. When the current balance sits well above the average balance, the underwriter will ask for bank statements, or for the statement of the source account, to see where the money came from.

### A worked example

The figures below are made up for illustration. A borrower needs $32,000 to close on a purchase. The VOD for her savings account comes back with these numbers:

| VOD field | Example value |
| --- | --- |
| Current balance | $38,500 |
| Average balance, last two months | $14,200 |
| Date opened | 2019 |
| Loans with this bank | None |

The current balance covers the $32,000. The average balance says that most of it arrived recently. The underwriter asks for the most recent two statements. They show a $24,000 transfer from a brokerage account in the borrower's name. The borrower sends the brokerage statement showing the sale and the withdrawal. The funds are sourced, and the file moves.

Without the statements, the VOD alone could not clear the file. With statements alone, the lender would have reached the same answer, which is why many processors ask for both when a deposit is already known.

### Business deposits

The same issue appears when a self-employed borrower moves business money to a personal account before closing. The lender then needs to know the business can spare it. The guide on [how lenders verify self employment for a bank statement loan](/blog/verify-self-employment-for-bank-statement-loan) covers the business side of those files.

## When a lender wants bank statements instead of a VOD form

A lender wants bank statements instead of a verification of deposit form whenever the loan depends on the transactions. That covers bank statement income programs, files with large deposits to source, accounts used to show recurring payments, and every business loan where the lender reads cash flow.

### Income from deposits

A non-QM bank statement program calculates income from 12 or 24 months of deposits. A VOD carries no deposit lines, so it cannot feed that calculation.

### Debt and payment patterns

Statements show debits a VOD hides: rent, car payments, private loans and daily payments to merchant cash advance funders. A business lender reading those debits needs every line. The difference between daily and weekly debits, and what each does to cash flow, is covered in [MCA daily versus weekly payments](/blog/mca-daily-vs-weekly-payments).

### Where software helps

Statements carry more information than a VOD but take longer to read. TrueBankFlow reads months of statements per account, groups recurring deposits and flags out-of-pattern ones with the statement line, so the underwriter sees the questions a VOD would have hidden. It does not complete or request VODs. [See what it pulls from a statement](/).