October 9, 2013
A reader asks, “I am formerly self employed with little if any income and own a home purchased prior to marriage and I have a 700+ FICO and perfect debt payment history. My husband is formerly self employed (5 years) and for 6 months now has been re-employed with former employer which laid him off during economic down turn. Husband has little or no credit history. With his rehire we will have to transfer. I don’t know if we can qualify for a home with the rather confusing circumstances. I don’t want to access my credit to find out we don’t qualify. What are our options?”
The simplest, most direct answer to this type of reader question is “Call the FHA”. In situations like these, it’s a very good idea to call 1-800 CALL FHA and ask for a referral to an FHA-approved housing counselor in the area where the borrower wants to purchase a home and begin a conversation about realistic options for home loan preparation, credit issues, etc.
There’s just one added issue this situation–and our answer to the reader question–needs to have addressed at the time of this writing. The government shutdown began after the end-of-September deadline for passing budget legislation to keep the government funded didn’t get met. That shutdown has affected a wide variety of government services. Would a borrower get a recorded message saying, “Sorry, we’re closed” if they called the hotline while a government shutdown is still in effect?
Not according to RealtorMag, which has the following information from the Department of Housing and Urban Development on its site:
- The Office of Single Family Housing will endorse new loans under current multi-year appropriation authority in order to support the health and stability of the U.S. mortgage market. (FHA endorsements currently represent 15% of the market.) Approximately 80% of FHA loans are endorsed by lenders with delegated authority. The remaining 20% are endorsed through the FHA Homeownership Centers, leveraging FHA staff with a contractor that works on-site.
- The Office of Single Family Housing will maintain the minimum operations necessary to support FHA’s existing portfolio.
- The FHA Call Center and the National Servicing Center’s Call Center will remain open.
That information is reprinted from the RealtorMag article published on September 30, 2013, titled “What a Government Shutdown Means for FHA Lending”. Borrowers should know that calls to 1-800 CALL FHA should, at the time of this writing, still be answered. So even during the government shutdown, it’s still a very good idea to contact the FHA directly for help with issues like the ones raised by this reader question.
Do you have questions about FHA loans or FHA refinance loans? Ask us in the comments section.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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