@ShanetheMortgageMan wrote:Yup, a home equity loan/line of credit is still considered a mortgage since it's tied to your home. Not sure if the mortgage broker just saw there was mortgage lates or actually paid attention to the severity, you may want to ask how they will deal with the 120 day mortgage lates and what type of loan program they had in mind for you.
The type of financing you'd need would be non-conforming, probably will be a community bank and community banks don't work with mortgage brokers. You just call up one by one and ask their mortgage department if they offer loan programs that will accept a 120 day mortgage late in such n such month & year - as that appears is the only issue. If they say yes, then move on to what type of down payment, credit score, debt ratio requirement, etc. or just go over the rest of your situation top to bottom as they'll need to consider both the properties you and your fiance own, etc. Your situation would be perfect for a sub-prime mortgage, if those still existed. The only thing that'll be different from the program you'll eventually find and sub-prime mortgages is that you won't be charged an arm & a leg, have a pre-pay penalty, likely no balloon payment, etc. The banks will not have recognizable names - for example a quick Google search of los angeles community banks brings up Inland Community Bank, Hanmi Bank, Broadway Federal Bank, Wilshire State Bank, FirstCity Credit Union, etc. Most appear to have a mortgage division, some have some odd advertisement guidelines (like loan amounts up to $600k - that is not a figure that FHA, Fannie or Freddie rely on), so I'm sure they have the type of program in the right direction - whether it'd accept a recent 120 day mortgage late or not is for you to find out. I know several of these non-conforming loan programs guidelines very well, and none of them permit mortgage lates of 90+ days late in the last 3-7 years (varies), so if you hear a lot of no's don't get discouraged because it'll likely be that way for awhile. You may have to call a few dozen, if one says they don't have any ask if they could recommend any other banks - community banks tend to have good relationships with other community banks.
Shane, I just wanted to thank you again for your advice and help and update you. I waited a few months to get scores up, and allow some time to elapse from the negatives on my mortgage. I have contacted the banks that you listed, as well as a few others and credit unions. 1 on your list in particular got back to me very quickly, and was extemely positive. They said that they do their own underwriting, do not sell off their loans, and although tend to be fairly conservative, are able to look at an entire persons history and profile to determine creditworthiness. I emailed all info to the Senior VP who in turn forwarded to the Director, with instructions to help me. They have not only been easy to deal with- but are actually nice and act like Human Beings 
In fact, they are willing to prequalify me or not using copies of the credit reports and scores from this site so that I do not lose points with an inquiry. Of course, they will need to be run in final process. She also said that their underwriters are on staff, in house, so when they do a preapproval it means something-- as long as nothing bad happens.
So I have submitted everything for me and my fiance, and now await the outcome. I am hopeful but not yet excited. I will update the post, but just wanted to tell you how valuable your advice on this board is, and I really appreciate it. It makes the monthly payment to this service worth every penney and more!
