In this blog, we will discuss and cover qualifying for a home loan with recent late payments. For borrowers seeking to try to qualify for a home loan with recent late payments, an FHA loan is the best route to take. FHA loans have extremely loose lending guidelines when it comes to prior bad credit.
Borrowers can have the following types of bad credit and qualify for a mortgage:
- bankruptcy
- foreclosure
- deed in lieu of foreclosure
- collection accounts
- judgment
- tax liens
- recent late payments
- charge offs
- low credit scores
Role Of FHA
The Federal Housing Administration fully understands that people have gone through periods of hard time such as the following:
- unemployment
- loss of business
- divorce
- medical issues
- other extenuating circumstances
The Federal Housing Administration, FHA, is under the direction of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also referred to as HUD. FHA is not a lender. They are a government entity that insures residential owner-occupant mortgage loans to lenders. Lenders need to be HUD-approved. Need to follow HUD guidelines in order for their FHA loans to be insured in case of default which leads to foreclosure and loss. HUD has created specific guidelines when it comes to Home Loan With Recent Late Payments.
Qualifying For Mortgage With Prior Bad Credit
Borrowers can qualify for FHA Loans with credit scores as low as 500 FICO. However, if borrowers’ credit scores fall between 500 and 579, a 10% minimum down payment is required. HUD allows homebuyers to qualify for FHA Loans with as little as a 3.5% down payment. However, to qualify for a 3.5% down payment home purchase borrower needs a 580 minimum credit score. There are reasons why a mortgage loan applicant has credit scores under 640. Credit scores under 640 are considered poor credit scores. A mortgage loan application can have prior bad credit and qualify for a mortgage loan.
Qualifying For Mortgage With Outstanding Collections And Charge Offs
A mortgage applicant can have collection accounts with credit balances. Borrowers do not have to pay off the credit balance in order to qualify for a mortgage loan. Charged off accounts do not matter and do not have to be satisfied
Qualifying For Mortgage After Bankruptcy And Housing Event
The mortgage loan applicant can have a prior bankruptcy and qualify for a mortgage loan. There is a 2-year mandatory waiting period to qualify for an FHA loan from the date of the discharge of bankruptcy. Borrowers can qualify after foreclosure and /or after a deed in lieu of foreclosure after three years from the recorded date of the foreclosure and/or deed in lieu of foreclosure.
FHA Loan After Short Sale
A mortgage loan application can qualify for FHA Loans after 3 years from the short sale date of their property. A mortgage applicant can qualify with a judgment and/or tax lien. This holds true as long as a written payment agreement is in effect. Mortgage loan applicant needs to show they have been making at least three payments by providing three canceled checks. The loan applicant can qualify for an FHA-insured mortgage loan with prior charge offs. Outstanding charged-off accounts do not have to be paid to qualify for an FHA loan.
FHA Loan With Bad Credit
HUD is extremely generous when it comes to their mortgage guidelines for home buyers with prior bad credit. PRIOR BAD CREDIT is the key phrase here and not recent late payments. FHA is extremely tough when it comes to recent late payments. So are lenders. HUD does not condone home buyers or refinance mortgage loan applicants with any recent late payments. Most lenders will not approve loan applicants if they had a late payment in the past 12 months. However, if a loan applicant had just one or two late payments in the past 12 months, there is a possibility borrowers may get a pass. The most common problem most people who come to me to apply for a mortgage loan with recent late payments are folks who had a recent late payment on credit card bills.
Recent Late Payment On Credit Card Bills
90% of the recent late payments on a mortgage loan applicant cases are recent late payments on credit card payments. That monthly minimum credit card payment is so important. Even if your minimum payment is $5 dollar. If you skip that $5 dollar minimum due payment and decide to pay off the entire credit card balance the following month, it will negatively affect credit scores. The credit card company will report 30 days late on the credit report. That late payment will stay on a credit report and be part of credit history for the next 7 years. That one $5 dollar late payment in the past 12 months can kill the chances of getting a mortgage loan. The good news is that if you have one recent late payment such as a recent late payment on a credit card payment, there may be a solution where you can still qualify for a mortgage loan.
Contact Creditor For One Time Reprieve
Mortgage Loan Applicants with a recent late payment on credit card payment, auto loan payment, or any other credit payment and this was the only late payment and had a good payment history with the creditor, contact the creditor and see if they will remove the recent late payment history as a one-time goodwill gesture.
Tell them nicely that it was a total oversight on the borrower’s part:
- That the recent late payment history is hindering chances of qualifying for a mortgage loan
- Many times the creditor will check consumers’ overall payment history with them
- They will make a one-time exception
- They can remove the recent late payment history of the credit report
- If the customer service representative tells the consumer that they cannot remove the recent late payment of their credit report, ask to speak to a supervisor
- Many times when the customer service representative says no and when asked to speak to a supervisor, the supervisor may give consumer sympathy and take the recent late payment off their record
- One recent late payment on the credit report can plummet credit scores by more than 50 plus points
- Whether it is a $5 dollar minimum payment or a $400 dollar payment, the late payment will both impact credit scores the same
A late payment is considered a late payment period no matter how much the minimum monthly payment is.
Consult With Morgage Broker
When trying to qualify for Home Loan With Recent Late Payments, make sure to consult with a lender with no overlays on Home Loan With Recent Late Payments. Most lenders will have lender overlays on Home Loan With Recent Late Payments. Even if borrowers get an automated underwriting system approval on AUS, lenders can disqualify borrowers for Home Loan With Recent Late Payments as part of their mortgage overlays.
Home Loan With Recent Late Payments: Research A Wholesale Lender With No Lender Overlays
Instead of applying to a bank, consult with a mortgage broker. Mortgage brokers have lending partnerships with hundreds of wholesale lenders with no overlays. Your mortgage broker explains the recent late payment to the representative of the wholesale mortgage lender. Mortgage brokers represent multiple lenders. Mortgage brokers are not tied with just one lender. They represent many wholesale lenders.
Advantage of Mortgage Brokers Versus Mortgage Bankers on Getting Approval on Home Loan With Recent Late Payments
Mortgage Brokers will research the wholesale lenders who do not have any lender overlays on your type of credit issues. Not all lenders will disqualify borrowers for Home Loan With Recent Late Payments. Gustan Cho Associates is a mortgage company licensed in multiple states with no lender overlays on government and conventional loans. Over 75% of our borrowers are folks who could not qualify with other lenders due to their overlays.
Letter Of Explanation For Home Loan With Recent Late Payments
For borrowers who had a recent late payment and have found a lender that will take on your deal, the chances are that they will require a detailed letter of explanation. The letter of explanation does not need to be a novel. It just needs to state the facts and if a borrower can provide supporting documents, it will be great to the borrowers’ advantage.
Case Scenario of Mortgage Approval with Home Loan With Recent Late Payments
One case scenario where I ran into a loan applicant with a recent late payment on his credit report was that the mortgage loan applicant did not use one of his credit cards for some time. Renewal time came and he did not realize that the renewal annual fee was $75 dollars and a minimum payment of $10 dollars was due. He did not think anything of it until he had to apply for a mortgage and the late payment history showed up on his credit report. This did a lot of damage and the credit card company would not remove the recent late payment record from his credit report. However, the mortgage loan applicant provided supporting documents along with a letter of explanation and everything was fine.
Not All Lenders Have The Same Lending Requirements on Home Loan With Recent Late Payments
All in all, one recent late payment will not disqualify you from getting mortgage approval. Multiple late payments all at the same time due to extenuating circumstances can also not bar you from a mortgage loan approval. However, recent late payments throughout the past 12 months will definitely not qualify you for a mortgage loan. Mortgage Borrowers who need to qualify for Home Loan With Recent Late Payments, please contact us at Gustan Cho Associates at 800-900-8569 or text us for a faster response. Or email us at alex@gustancho.com. The team at Gustan Cho Associates is available 7 days a week, evenings, weekends, and holidays.
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