Lending Guidelines

How Long Is The Wait to Buy a Home After Derogatory Credit

With the down turn in the economy over the past several years coupled with high unemployment, many good borrowers have been forced to make difficult decisions on which bills to pay. Generically speaking, paying the mortgage should alwys take number one priority. That is not always feasible unfortunately.

For those homeowners who were foreclosed, walked away and/or had to file bankruptcy there is life after major derogatory credit. Depending on the nature and circumstances in which you had to default on your previous home, the waiting period can be sooner than you think.

Below you will find a matrix that illustrates the governed waiting periods required for derogatory credit events.

It may not happen as soon as you would like, but there is hope. Just remember that real estate and the mortgage industry is no longer in their glory days when these type of major derogatory credit events were simple ant hills on the super highway to home ownership.

Bad things happen to good people. If you would like to speak about your specific situation and how you could get back on the fast track to home ownership, contact me today to schedule free credit review and consultation.

Lending Guidelines

Why Is Your Mortgage Approval Contingent On Form 4506-T

If you are in need of a mortgage, there is one document that could stop you in your tracks. It is IRS Form 4506-T.

What exactly is Form 4506-T?

Form 4506-T, aka. Request for Transcript of Tax Return, allows lending institutions to validate your income by confirming with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that you are a lawful tax payer.

For decades, prospective home buyers in Portage Indiana only had to provide their pay stubs, W-2′s and tax returns as proof of their income. Today the aforementioned documentation is just the minimum.

Uncle Sam due to his large role in residential financing (i.e. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA) now wants to make sure that you have paid and will continue to pay your taxes.

So what’s the problem you ask?

The problem arises from the very safeguard that Congress mandated. Banks are required and forced to use Form 4506-T in order to validate every one’s income.

The form itself has not changed much over the years. How it is completed to the satisfactory nature of the IRS has though. They even go so far as to put the following disclaimer at the top of the form:

“Request may be rejected if the form is incomplete or illegible.”

Requests for transcripts are rejected by the IRS on a daily basis. The most common errors are illegible handwriting and non-compliant signature dates. A simple typographical error could cause a rejection and the IRS is not required to tell you the source of the rejection.

Most consumers and real estate professionals are not aware of the significance of Form 4506-T as it was used sparingly for loan audits in years past. Now that every loan requires it to be executed, the IRS themselves have become a bottle neck.

Even if you have electronically filed and made an electronic payment of outstanding taxes, the IRS may not be able to validate your tax returns.

How could that be?

Unfortunately, the processing side doesn’t know what the validation side is doing. The two systems are not fully integrated. This is how your mortgage approval and home loan transaction could be delayed.