Deferred compensation runs on the same core test as RSUs: is the deferral voluntary, and is the money accessible? Voluntary deferral generally doesn't count against you. If you're choosing to set income aside, like maxing out a 401(k), the lender treats that as money you could turn back on if you needed it. Your election, reversible, no strike against your ability to make the payment. Involuntary deferred comp is the harder case. When compensation is locked up under a required holding period and you can't reach it on your own schedule, it generally can't be used to qualify, for the same reason unvested RSUs can't: dollars you don't yet control can't make a mortgage payment. Once that money becomes accessible and you have a history of receiving it, the conversation changes. The clean summary: accessible, in-hand income counts; income you're contractually barred from reaching does not, whether it comes as stock or deferred cash.