Fannie Mae Relaxes Rules for Once Troubled Borrowers (Investor Opportunity?)

So Government mortgage giant Fannie Mae has just announced some interesting new mortgage underwriting guidelines in an April 14th bulletin to lenders. And among them is a tasty little tidbit that changes things for a certain slice of troubled mortgage borrowers — a time-frame change the investment community would do well to have on our radar.

For those who have previously released their homes through short sale or a “deed in lieu of foreclosure”, there has always been a waiting period required before you could apply for another Fannie Mae backed loan.

In 2008, the waiting period was reduced from five years to four. But effective July 1, 2010, this waiting period has been reduced to only 2 years.

The “Catch”?

Now to qualify after that two year period, the new regs state that a minimum 20% down payment will be required — unless there are “extenuating circumstances” such as job loss, health problems, divorce, etc…

But I’m thinking, doesn’t pretty much any short sale by default involve “extenuating circumstances”? I mean, just show them the hardship letter you submitted with your short sale docs. Case closed. At least that’s what I think – only time will tell.

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