Settlement at closing to exclude from DTI?

[thankfulheart]

I'm still waiting to hear from my LO about my DTI situation as it's complicated. I was curious if I could do a settlement at closing of a mortgage on a marital home that is part of a separation agreement, using the earnest money I'll be refunded to pay it off so it can be excluded from DTI? Right now, I have $5K tied up in earnest money on a new build, but I'm planning to go USDA, so will get almost all of that back. The balance due is right at $7K and I can come up with that from savings and extra payments over the time of the construction. Just wondering if that's a possibility...

[jop3]

It's always possible to pay things off at closing. It's truly just up to the lender if they'll let you do it.