Verification of Employment (VOE) Form — What It Is and How to Complete One

Understand the standard VOE form, when a form is required instead of a letter, and generate a signed employment verification letter that satisfies most requests.

Create an Employment Verification Letter

Form or letter?

A verification of employment form is completed by the employer for a requester. If you were asked to "provide" verification, a signed employment verification letter from your employer usually does the job — create one with the generator.

What is a verification of employment form?

A verification of employment (VOE) form is a structured document that a third party — most often a lender, landlord, or background-screening agency — sends to an employer to confirm that someone works there. Unlike an employment verification letter, which the employer writes in free form, a VOE form has fixed fields the employer fills in and signs, so the answers come back in a consistent, comparable format.

The form is completed by the employer or HR department, not by the employee — that independence is the whole point. The requester wants confirmation straight from the source, not a statement the applicant wrote themselves.

VOE form vs employment verification letter

Verification of employment form

Sent by the requester to the employer with fields to complete and return. Common in mortgage lending, where the lender controls the exact wording. The employee is not involved in filling it out.

Employment verification letter

Written by the employer, usually at the employee's request, on company letterhead. Flexible wording, accepted by most landlords, banks, and agencies — and the fastest option when no specific form was provided.

If the request did not include a specific form to fill in, a signed letter is almost always accepted. Use the generator to create an employment verification letter your employer can review and sign.

What a verification of employment form includes

Most VOE forms ask the employer to confirm:

  • Employer and employee names and the employee's job title.
  • Employment status — full-time or part-time, current or former.
  • Start date and, for a former employee, the end date.
  • Income — base pay, plus overtime, bonuses, or commission for lending forms.
  • Probability of continued employment — a field specific to mortgage forms.
  • Signature, title, and contact of the person completing it.

Who uses VOE forms

  • Mortgage lenders — using the standard Fannie Mae Form 1005 (Request for Verification of Employment) or the Freddie Mac equivalent.
  • Banks and lenders reviewing a loan, credit line, or account application.
  • Landlords and property managers screening a rental applicant.
  • Background-check and pre-employment screening companies verifying history.
  • Government and benefits offices confirming income eligibility.

Large employers often route these through an automated service like The Work Number; smaller employers complete the form or issue a letter by hand.

Official verification of employment forms

Mortgage programs use standard forms with the same title, "Request for Verification of Employment". Your lender chooses the form and sends it — you don't need to download one yourself.

  • Fannie Mae Form 1005 — conventional mortgages. Official PDF
  • VA Form 26-8497 (also numbered USDA Form 410-5) — VA-guaranteed home loans. Official PDF
  • USDA Form RD 1910-5 — USDA Rural Development loans and housing programs. Official PDF

Landlords and background-check companies usually send their own form, so its fields differ from the list below.

Form 1005, part by part

  • Part I – Request. The lender fills in the employer, the lender and its signature, and certifies that the form went straight to the employer. You sign item 8 to authorize the employer to answer.
  • Part II – Present employment. Your hire date and position, the probability of continued employment, current base pay and pay period, and gross earnings for this year and past years, split into base pay, overtime, commissions and bonus. It also asks whether overtime or bonus is likely to continue, average weekly hours if you are paid hourly, your last and next pay increase, and remarks such as time off work.
  • Part III – Previous employment. For a former employee: dates hired and terminated, pay at termination, reason for leaving and position held.
  • Part IV – Authorized signature. Signature, title, date, printed name and phone number of the person at the employer who completed it.

The form says it must go directly from the lender to the employer and back, never through the applicant. So you can't fill it in or deliver it yourself. What you can do: sign Part I, give the lender the right HR contact, and tell HR to expect it.

How to complete and return a VOE form

The requester sends the form to the employer or HR.

HR verifies the details, fills in each field, and signs.

The signed form goes back to the requester — or a letter is issued instead.

Verbal verification of employment (VVOE)

For a mortgage, the written form is not the last check. For loans sold to Fannie Mae, the lender must also confirm that you still work there within 10 business days before the loan closes. If you are self-employed, the window is 120 calendar days, and the lender confirms that your business exists instead. The lender records who confirmed it at your employer, that person's title, the date, and where the phone number came from.

What this means for you: tell HR that a lender may call in the days before closing, and avoid changing jobs until the loan has closed, because the check exists to catch exactly that.

Source: Fannie Mae Selling Guide, Verbal Verification of Employment (effective March 4, 2026).

No form provided? Create a letter instead

When a requester only asks you to "provide verification of employment," a signed letter on company letterhead is accepted almost everywhere. Generate one in minutes.

Create Your Employment Verification Letter

Frequently asked questions

They overlap but are not identical. A form is usually a structured document the requester sends to the employer to complete and return; a letter is written by the employer, often at the employee's request. A signed employment verification letter satisfies most requests that ask for a "form".

Fannie Mae Form 1005 (and the equivalent Freddie Mac Form 90) is the standard Request for Verification of Employment used in mortgage lending. The lender sends it to your employer, who confirms your dates, position, income, and the probability of continued employment.

The employee does not complete the verification section — that must come from the employer or HR so it stays independent. You can, however, prepare an employment verification letter for your employer to review and sign, which covers the same information.

The employer fills in the details, signs, and returns it directly to the requester by email, fax, or an automated service such as The Work Number. Many lenders also accept a signed letter on company letterhead in its place.