We are new to this board and want to thank everyone reading this and offering their knowledge.
We are in somewhat of a questionable position for FHA financing. I had bought a home using FHA financing back in '06 in the state of Arizona. My husband and I were not married at the time I purchased the home. About a year later we were married, however, he never at one point had anything to do with the loan or deed. He was never on either and when I refinanced he always signed the deed waiver (I believe it's called). The house just short sold a couple of weeks ago and even though he had absolutely nothing to do with the house (mortgage or deed wise) we were told by a couple loan officers that he would not qualify for a FHA mortgage (or any other type of mortgage for that matter including conventional, USDA, etc) by himself because we live Arizona and it is a community property state and since we were married at the time of the short sale, it becomes part of his problem as well even though it doesn't show up on his credit report for obvious reasons. We then called a couple more loan officers (in Arizona) and they told us that it doesn't matter if I short sold a house because we weren't married at the time I bought it and the mortgage company wouldn't even run my credit. So we wanted to know who is correct? I have looked this information up online and specifically for Arizona residents I found several sites that stated he shouldn't have a problem getting a loan, but they might run my credit to include any debt I have onto his and count that against him (which I luckily have absolutely no debt, just collections and a short sale on my record). BTW, at the time of the short sale we were 120+ days late. Thanks again for anyone that can offer some advice.
Starting Score: TU 534 EQ 582 EX 582
Thanks for your reply!! What kind of loan did you try to get approved for and what kind of loan did your wife have? Was it an FHA?
I have a feeling that they are full of it because the one I spoke with put me on hold for a while and came back on the phone and said that the underwriter himself told my lending officer that. Either that or it could vary from underwriter to underwriter, bank to bank?
My wife has a conventional loan and I was applying for an FHA loan. My mid score at the time was 603 and they were willing to work with that but I didn't have a lot of new credit at that point so that's what I'm working on now. I plan to apply again in the next couple of months 
That's pretty much the same situation my husband is in. Trying to get a couple more credit lines open since he only has one. How long has it been since you've opened it and have been paying on it? Just trying to get an idea of how long we should wait
We were told that I needed at least 3 open tradelines (I opened two secured credit cards and got another store card and a car financed in my name because we needed one anyways). The cards have been reporting for about 6 months now but I have a few charge offs from 2004 that are causing problems with getting financed right now. They said the tradelines were ok though. They told us those tradelines need to show a positive credit history for 6-12 months. Plus we are working on saving up reserves right now too because with my score being lower right now (615) they want to see more money in the bank 
With higher scores you might be in better shape though.