A documentation process designed to expedite loan approval where the lender accepts from the borrower documents such as W-2s, paycheck stubs and bank statements as verification of income made on the loan application. Confirming a borrower's information in this manner is considerably quicker than the traditional method of verifying such information with third parties.

Alternative documentation is a "full documentation" loan. In other words, income, assets, employment, etc, are documented as opposed to a "stated income stated asset" (SISA) loan. There is generally no increase in the interest rate associated with alternative documentation as there typically is with "stated" loans.