Some borrowers who defaulted on previous mortgages can now get a new FHA loan after one year instead of three. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
On September 4, 2013, E. Scott Reckard writes in the Los Angeles Times that to qualify for the break, FHA borrowers must show that their foreclosure or bankruptcy was caused by external economic factors.
The Federal Housing Administration wants to make it easier for people who have defaulted on their mortgages to get a new home loan with FHA backing.
But there’s a catch. To qualify for the break, borrowers must show that their foreclosure or bankruptcy was caused by external economic factors, reducing their income by 20% or more for six months. And no, you can’t have quit your job or have been fired for cause.
Those who can demonstrate such a pay cut, job loss or decline in business income now must spend only one year making timely rent and credit-card payments before they can apply to buy a home with an FHA-insured loan, a recent FHA bulletin explained. In addition, they must obtain housing counseling from an agency approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Borrowers generally are not eligible for a new FHA loan until three years after a foreclosure or two years after a bankruptcy. Previously, the death of a spouse or a medical emergency had been exceptions that could cut the wait to a year; now loss of income is listed as an extenuating circumstance as well.
It’s one of the few signs that the FHA’s low-down-payment mortgages, traditionally an option for first-time and lower-income borrowers, might be getting easier to obtain.
Otherwise, the agency, its reserves depleted by mass defaults, has been tightening its credit standards and raising the premiums it charges to insure mortgages. It also recently changed its rules so borrowers must pay annual premiums on FHA mortgage insurance for at least 11 years if they want its backing for a home loan.
http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-fha-mortgages-20130905,0,6032854.story