Getting a non-doc mortgage or loan used to be quite straightforward, and there were plenty of institutions who would give them. Since the economy and banking sector hit the floor, finance for most of us has been hard to get. Even though we bailed out the banks they are still being a bit slow to help us in return.

The Naples real estate market is still active, and there are plenty of potential buyers and sellers out there who can’t do anything because they can’t get the finance. This situation is even worse when you’re self employed or have a small business.

Finance for non-doc applicants used to be plentiful. Even after the bailout, and the slow recovery of the mortgage market, loans for self employed people remains scarce. Even those banks who used to provide them don’t do it anymore.

Brokers are having a hard job finding financing options for this category of people.

“The last stated-income lender was Union Bank. Since the Federal Regulators made them get rid of their stated-income loans the bank offers them no more.” Says mortgage broker Jason Smart. “Stated-income loans were hit hard by the recession, a few bad apples lied and spoiled the game for those thousands of self employed who work hard and pay their taxes.”

The words “stated-income” have become almost extinct since the government decided they weren’t really acceptable right now. Despite propping up the rest of the banking sector, the self employed seem to have been hung out to dry. No stated-income loans seem to be available any more, and don’t look like they are going to be for a while yet.

Small business owner Mark Stackhouse is one such person looking for a refinancing loan. “We can’t get the loan even though we have equity, business records and have made money. All the banks seem to be interested in are tax returns. We’re a small business and have a lot of expenses which we can legitimately write off to tax, all perfectly acceptable and within the law. Except on a tax form it doesn’t look like we make much money. Just because a few people lied on their forms, we are all being penalized.”

Mark isn’t alone in this assumption. Small business owner Robert Jackson owns a theater prop supply company in Florida. He wants to get back into the real estate market after having sold his former home to finance his new startup business. He says sing a quality real estate agent is the single most important thing he could have done.

“Small businesses are important to whichever economy they contribute to. Without us, everything will crash all over again. We work harder that anyone to make it a success. I pay my taxes and some of my taxes bailed out the banks, yet they can’t even return the favor by helping me when I need them to. It’s simply not fair.”

This picture is repeated all over the country as anyone who has a small business tries to get finance. It isn’t just for real estate purchases, but for business expansion, investment opportunities or to tide them over. The small business is the beating heart of the economy but is being left to fend for itself just when we need them most.