Monday, November 9, 2015

Use Your Bank Statements As Income

Many self employed borrowers do not show a lot of income on their tax returns in the form of net profits. But many have a lot of funds flowing through their business or/and personal bank statements. To document income the borrower would add up all the deposits in their bank statements and average the totals over a 24 month period. You can use 50% of business bank statements and 100% of personal bank statements but you cant use both. This program allows loan to values up to 90% of the purchase price and seasoning on bankruptcies, foreclosures, short sales, and bankruptcies down to the next day after the event. FICO scores as low as 500! 


Give me a call if you would like me to get you qualified on a bank statement loan today. 

Friday, November 6, 2015

Converting Primary to Investment Property Rule Change

Property values have come back and lending has become more relaxed on the rules when it come to renting out the property that you will be leaving to buy another home. Recently Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two major investors of mortgages, have required that your property you are vacating needs to have 30% equity to be able to use the future rental income to offset the mortgage payment on that home. Now both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae no longer require this equity and your house can even have negative equity and you will still be able to use the future rental income! But who doesn't have equity in their California home anymore? Not many are left underwater as so many were between 2007 and 2012. Your house isn't swimming with the




fishes anymore most likely unless you live in the five states which account for 31.4% of all underwater mortgage. Those states according to CoreLogic, a California-based financial services analytics  firm. are Nevada (23.1%), Florida (21.2%),  Illinois (16.8%), Arizona (16.8%) and Rhode Island (15.7%). And I only lend in California so most likely you above water. So call me today and see if you can get pre approved for your dream home. Time to move up!

Friday, December 13, 2013

FHA Back to Work Loan- Credit approval

It has been a while since I posted my first posting on the FHA Back to Work program and so far I have 3 clients I am currently working with on FHA Back to Work credit approvals. What I am finding is that  most of the buyers I talk to are suspect that they can actually get approved for this program and don't want to get their hopes up. Here is the first correspondence from a buyer searching for a lender through the internet


Client
Hi Ted,

Thanks for your email and voicemail. We are still looking but really aren't sure what our options are since we had a short sale on our first home about 4 years ago and a foreclosure on a mountain home about 2.5 years ago. I lost my job in the Bay Area and had to downsize. We never have been late on any other bills and have been employed but at a lower rate than what I made as a Corporate Marketing Manager in Sunnyvale. With all that said, would we even qualify at this point or do we need to wait until we hit the 3 year mark on the foreclosure?

Ted
If  the reason for foreclosure was due to job loss and you can document a decrease in income by 20% at the time you have a chance to buy now.   

Client
It was and it was much more than 20%. What kind of loan, how much down and what kind of rates? I don't want to go through an entire process to find out we need to wait until next summer. I'd like you to be up front with us about everything and if we have to wait we would still use you when we qualify. We are really busy and I don't want to waste our time or yours. How would we proceed?


What I do at this point is ask for the documentation from the client and analyze it to see if they will have a chance at approval. With a typical client looking to use FHA financing I could then run the automated underwriting software which will tell me if the client is approved or not. On the FHA Back to Work program the file has to be manually underwritten by an underwriter in our bank. So it's not up the loan officer to pre-approve you or even approve you at this point. You need the underwriter to do this and I'm finding the underwriters are being very tough on these FHA Back to Work loans. For this client I could see I had a strong file but I wanted to submit to the bank for a credit approval first so the borrower could have confidence that when she was putting out offers she would not get rejected for the loan and get her hopes dashed. I understand its a big emotional decision as well as a big financial situation. I recieved the credit approval from my bank a week after submission and now the buyer is making offers on properties in her target market. All she needs now to close the loan is a purchase contract and an appraisal! If you would like to get credit approved for the FHA Back to Work program please give me a call. There is no fee for this service! 


Saturday, October 12, 2013

FHA BACK TO WORK LOAN -Extenuating Circumstances

The waiting period to obtain an FHA loan after foreclosure and short sale is 3 years and its a 2 year wait after a chapter 7 Bankruptcy. FHA has created a program to help you obtain an FHA loan before that time and has published their guidelines to get approved for their Back to Work FHA loan in Mortgagee Letter 2013-26. Rather than explain it in my own words I have copied most of the letter below so if you are looking to get a loan before the current waiting period is over you should be able to almost approve yourself for the Back to Work loan. If you believe you may qualify please email me at terickson@clrloans or call me directly at 415-962-1516.


For the rest of this article ML will refer to this Mortgagee letter 2013-16


FHA is continuing its commitment to fully evaluate borrowers who have experienced periods of financial difficulty due to extenuating circumstances.
As a result of the recent recession many borrowers who experienced unemployment or other severe reductions in income, were unable to make their monthly mortgage payments, and ultimately lost their homes to a pre-foreclosure sale, deed-in-lieu, or foreclosure. Some borrowers were forced to file for bankruptcy to discharge or restructure their debts. Because of these recent recession-related periods of financial difficulty, borrowers’ credit has been negatively affected. FHA recognizes the hardships faced by these borrowers, and realizes that their credit histories may not fully reflect their true ability or propensity to repay a mortgage.
To that end, FHA is allowing for the consideration of borrowers who have experienced an Economic Event and can document that:

- certain credit impairments were the result of a Loss of Employment or a significant loss of Household Income beyond the borrower’s control;
- the borrower has demonstrated full recovery from the event; and,
- the borrower has completed housing counseling.

Borrowers that may be otherwise ineligible for an FHA-insured mortgage due to FHA’s waiting period for bankruptcies, foreclosures, deeds-in-lieu, and short sales, as well as delinquencies and/or indications of derogatory credit, including collections and judgments, may be eligible for an FHA-insured mortgage if the borrower:

- Can document that the delinquencies and/or indications of derogatory credit are the result of an Economic Event as defined in below.
- has completed satisfactory Housing Counseling, as described in this ML, and
- meets all other HUD requirements.

Definitions
An Economic Event is any occurrence beyond the borrower’s control that results in Loss of Employment, Loss of Income, or a combination of both, which causes a reduction in the borrower’s Household Income of twenty (20) percent or more for a period of at least six (6) months.
The Onset of an Economic Event is the month of Loss of Employment/Income.
Recovery from an Economic Event is the re-establishment of Satisfactory Credit (as defined on page 5 of this ML) for a minimum of twelve (12) months.
The term borrower includes borrowers and co-borrower.
Borrower Household Income means the gross income of the borrower and all Household Members, as defined below, for purposes of assessing loss of income. The gross income of each Household Member must be computed in accordance with FHA income requirements.
Note: Household Member, for the purpose of this ML, means an individual residing at the borrower’s primary residence at the time of the Economic Event and who was a co-borrower on the borrower’s previous mortgage.

Note: Borrower Household Income is used for the purpose of defining an Economic Event. Only the income from the borrower, not Household Income, may be used as Effective Income for the purpose of qualifying for the new loan.
Housing Counseling, for purposes of this ML, means counseling from a HUD-approved housing counseling agency related to homeownership and residential mortgage loans that is provided in accordance with 24 C.F.R. part 214 “Housing Counseling Program” and satisfies the requirements identified in Satisfactory Housing Counseling.

Satisfactory Credit


1. Satisfactory Credit: Requirements
The lender may deem a borrower to have Satisfactory Credit if:
- the borrower’s credit history is clear of late housing or installment debt payments, and major derogatory credit issues on revolving accounts;
- any open mortgage is current and shows twelve (12) months satisfactory payment history. Mortgages may have been brought current through loan modification, which may be “temporary” or “permanent” so long as all payments have been documented as being received in accordance with the modification agreement(s); and
- the borrower meets the requirements of this ML.

When evaluating a borrower with non-traditional credit history, the lender may deem a borrower to have Satisfactory Credit if the borrower’s non-traditional credit history covering at least twelve (12) months in duration includes:
- no history of delinquency on rental housing payments; and
- no more than one thirty (30) days delinquency on payments due to other creditors; and
- no collection accounts/court records reporting (other than medical and/or identity theft).

2. Satisfactory Credit: Required Documentation
The lender must verify and document a reduction in the borrower’s Household Income of twenty (20) percent or more for a period of at least six (6) months that resulted from the Loss of Employment, Loss of Income, or a combination of both.
A. Loss of Employment
The lender must verify and document the Loss of Employment by obtaining:
- A written Verification of Employment (VOE) evidencing the termination date or in cases where the prior employer is no longer in business:
o a written termination notice, or
o other publicly available documentation of the business closure, and
o documentation of receipt of unemployment income.


Loss of Income
The lender must verify and document the Borrower’s Household Income prior to Loss of Income by obtaining:
- a written VOE evidencing prior income; or
- signed tax returns or W-2s evidencing prior income.
For a Loss of Income based on seasonal employment, the lender must verify and document a two year history of seasonal employment in the same field just prior to the Loss of Income, in addition to meeting the documentation requirement above.
For a Loss of Income based on part-time employment, the lender must verify and document a two year history of continuous part-time employment just prior to the Loss of Income in addition to meeting the documentation requirement above.
C. Post Economic Event Income
The lender must verify and document the Borrower’s Household Income after the onset of the Economic Event.


3. Satisfactory Credit: Analysis
The lender must then analyze the documentation to determine the Loss of Employment and/or Loss of Income resulted in a minimum twenty (20) percent reduction in income for a minimum of six (6) months.
Note: Even if the Household Member (as defined in this ML) is not an applicant on the current loan, the lender is responsible for obtaining the necessary authorizations to verify Household Members employment or income as part of the requirement to document reduction in household income at the time of the event.

The lender must first analyze and document (1) all delinquent accounts and (2) all indications of derogatory credit, including collections and judgments, bankruptcies, foreclosures, deeds-in-lieu, short sales, and other credit problems, to determine whether associated late payment, credit deficiencies or other credit problems were the result of an Economic Event, or an inability to manage debt or a general disregard for managing financial obligations.
To establish that borrower’s derogatory credit was the result of an Economic Event, the lender must review the credit report and determine that:
- the borrower exhibited Satisfactory Credit prior to the Economic Event Onset;
- the borrower’s derogatory credit occurred after the Economic Event Onset, and
- the borrower has re-established Satisfactory Credit for a minimum of twelve (12) months.

Required Documentation
A. Economic Event-Related Collections and Judgments
The lender must verify and document all collections and judgments were the result of the Economic Event.
For borrowers with open collection accounts or judgments, the lender must also meet the requirements of Handbook 4155.1, Section 4.C.2.e, Analysis of Collections and Judgments.
B. Economic Event-Related Mortgage Foreclosure
The lender must verify and document that:
- a minimum of twelve (12) months have elapsed since the date of foreclosure or deed-in-lieu; and
- the foreclosure or deed-in-lieu was the result of the Economic Event.
C. Economic Event-Related Short Sale
The lender must verify and document that:
 a minimum of (12) months have elapsed since the date of sale; and
 the short sale was the result of the Economic Event.
D. Economic Event-Related Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
The lender must verify and document that:
- a minimum of twelve (12) months have elapsed since the date of discharge of the bankruptcy; and
- the bankruptcy was the result of the Economic Event.
E. Economic Event-Related Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
The lender must verify and document that:
- the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy was discharged prior to loan application and all required bankruptcy payments were made on-time, or a minimum of twelve (12) months of the pay-out period under the bankruptcy has elapsed and all required bankruptcy payments were made on time; and
- the bankruptcy was the result of the Economic Event.
If the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy was not discharged prior to loan application, the lender must also verify and document that the borrower has received written permission from the Bankruptcy Court to enter into the subject mortgage transaction.

Housing Counseling
1. Satisfactory Housing Counseling: Requirements
To qualify for purposes of establishing Satisfactory Credit following an Economic Event, participants in this FHA initiative must:
-receive home-ownership counseling or a combination of home-ownership education and counseling provided that each participant receives, at a minimum, one hour of one-on-one counseling from HUD-approved housing counseling agencies. The counseling must address the cause of the economic event and the actions taken to overcome the economic event and reduce the likelihood of re- occurrence. The housing education may be provided by HUD-approved housing counseling agencies, state housing finance agencies, approved intermediaries or their sub-grantees, or through an on-line course, and
- be completed a minimum of thirty (30) days but no more than six (6) months prior to submitting a loan application to a lender.
Housing counseling may be conducted in person, via telephone, via internet, or other methods approved by HUD, and mutually agreed upon by the borrower and housing counseling agency.

If you believe you may qualify please email me at terickson@clrloans or call me directly at 415-9562-1516.