Articles Tagged With: Credit Issues

May 12, 2021

Down Payment Sources: The Rules

Are you struggling to save enough money for a down payment for a home loan? It’s tempting to turn to quicker sources of funds for that minimum required investment, but FHA loan rules say some potential sources for down payment money cannot be used. Those prohibited sources include considering cash advances from a credit card, payday loans, and certain other sources for a larger sum of money that can be used for a down payment including down payment “gifts” that actually have an expectation of repayment. The guidelines that cover these downpayment issues are found in HUD 4000.1, also known as the FHA Lender’s Handbook. The rules? For any type of FHA loan that requires a down payment (a new purchase loan, an FHA One-Time Close construction mortgage, condo loan, | more...

April 9, 2021

Why Loan Applications Are Denied

By Joe Wallace

What makes a borrower worthy of home loan approval? A history of on-time payments, a low debt ratio, and good credit scores all work together to get you home loan approval. But what gets you denied a mortgage? Reasons For An FHA Loan Rejection Your lender is required justify approving a home loan. There are three things the lender will review (among others): Verify that you have sufficient income for the monthly mortgage obligation; Determine that the borrower can afford existing debt and the new mortgage payments Ensure the applicant has a history of responsible credit use. What factors contribute to the lender’s decision when reviewing these three areas? We’ll explore them below. Credit Scores Matter On paper, FHA loan rules allow loan approval for borrowers with FICO scores between | more...

March 22, 2021

FHA Loan Approval: Credit Scores Are Just One Factor

By Bruce Reichstein

Some house hunters worry that they don’t have credit scores good enough to qualify for the mortgage. But it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that FICO scores are not the single determining factor in home loan approval. There Are THREE Important Factors Some FHA loan applicants come to the process knowing that both FICO scores and your record of on-time payments are crucial for loan approval. But even this is an incomplete picture of what your lender is after when trying to approve your home loan application. By this point in our article, you are likely getting the hint that there is indeed a third factor that counts when applying for a mortgage loan, and that factor is your debt-to-income ratio. The participating FHA lender’s job is to | more...

November 23, 2020

Bad Credit Home Loans

By Joe Wallace

You’ll find a lot of information on the internet about bad credit home loans. Lists of bad credit-friendly lenders abound, but what do you need to know about these home loans and their alternatives? The first thing to remember is that bad credit is a potential barrier to new credit for a reason–your lender is required to justify the loan and make sure you are a good credit risk. And if your credit scores and credit history show that you haven’t been as reliable about making on-time payments and meeting your credit obligations? Your lender has two options. One is to deny you the loan. This is what usually happens in cases where the lender cannot justify approving your loan due to credit issues. Each lender has their own standards | more...

November 3, 2020

When You Apply For Your Mortgage Loan

By Joe Wallace

When you apply for a home loan, whether it’s an FHA mortgage, conventional loan, or any other type of “forward mortgage” used to purchase, your lender is required to check your employment, income, and credit information to make sure you are a good credit risk. Some borrowers assume the lender is only interested in FICO scores–the numbers assigned to you based on your credit patterns, repayment history, and other variables. But that is NOT true–the score is important, yes. But it’s not the only factor that goes into loan approval decisions. And it’s key to understand the factors that go into determining your credit score as those factors are of interest to your lender. TransUnion, one of the “big three” credit reporting agencies, advises consumers that credit scores are determined | more...

October 20, 2020

HUD Announces New Deadlines For Coronavirus Foreclosure Avoidance Options

By Bruce Reichstein

Since the global coronavirus pandemic began affecting the United States economy, HUD has made a variety of policy changes and loss mitigation measures available to borrower struggling to make mortgage payments on FHA mortgages, refinance loans, and even reverse mortgages. In April, 2020, HUD published Mortgagee Letter 2020-06. That letter announced measures including COVID-19 related loan forbearance, plus “Standalone Partial Claims”, plus an extension of the deadline for FHA Reverse Mortgages (also known as FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgages or HECM) for those affected by the pandemic. A few months later, HUD also announced loan forbearance options for those who needed it beyond the initial forbearance period. And now, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Administration have announced that the agencies recognize a need, “…to | more...

October 16, 2020

Planning A Home Loan? Beware Holiday Credit Card Use

By Joe Wallace

A borrower’s debt-to-income ratio is an important part of the financial qualifications your lender will look at when trying to decide to approve or deny your mortgage loan application. Some future borrowers don’t help themselves out in this regard during holiday time and as we approach November and December, those in the planning stages of their mortgage loan journey should beware of opening new credit or increasing credit card use on existing accounts. Why? Credit Card Use Spikes At Holiday Time Traditionally, American consumers tend to increase credit use during the holiday season and it never pays to ignore this factor–take your potential holiday spending into account when planning for a new mortgage loan. In some cases the amount of the credit card debt isn’t the problematic factor–timely payments is | more...

October 7, 2020

Getting Ready For Your Home Loan

By Bruce Reichstein

Are you considering your home loan options? FHA mortgage loans have more flexible credit requirements more consumer-friendly loan options, but even with more lenient credit guidelines (compared to some conventional mortgages) there are a number of areas to consider in the preparation stages of your loan. Some are already ahead of the curve when it comes to getting financially ready for a major loan application, others are really starting from ground zero. Do you know how ready you are to fill out that mortgage loan application? Having Enough Preparation Time Is Important It does cost money to buy a home–there are plenty of up-front costs including appraisals and the home inspection, etc. Financial experts advise taking at least a full year to save, budget, and even to research the new | more...

October 1, 2020

Buying A Home With An FHA Loan: What’s Allowed, What’s Not

By Bruce Reichstein

FHA mortgages are great for borrowers who want a lower down payment, no early repayment penalties, and more flexible home loan approval guidelines than some conventional counterparts. But the tradeoff comes where certain kinds of property and other loan details are concerned. If you want a home as opposed to an investment, an FHA mortgage is right for you. That includes those who want to build a home from the ground up instead of buying someone else’s property. Whether you want a traditional suburban home, a mobile home, a condominium, or even a duplex or multi-family unit, there’s an FHA mortgage for those purposes. But what about those who want to buy a house they can rent out to others, or those who want a mixed-use property that can handle | more...

August 20, 2020

Househunters, Do You Need Credit Advice?

By Bruce Reichstein

Are you a house hunter worried about your credit ahead of your loan application? It doesn’t matter if you want to buy a mobile home, a condo, or even build a house on your own lot with a construction loan, you’ll need to examine your credit closely long before you apply for your mortgage. Many borrowers are afraid to look at their credit report, or they don’t know how to access one. Fortunately, you can get help accessing and reviewing your credit with professional credit monitoring, and there are some things you can do on your own to improve your credit ahead of your loan application. Start As Early As You Can Working on your credit, no matter what state it may be in, takes time. If you find issues | more...