When can I buy another house?

[Anonymous]

In 2012 my spouse and I opened a a business...lucky for us the business succeeded but as you can see...our mortgage took a MAJOR hit. We just paid our last trial period payment of the loan modification and will be brought current next month. Will any lender ever lend to me again?!? I've read that once an acct goes 120 days late...it's as bad as a bankruptcy...is that true? Any suggestions on rebounding from this?!

[Anonymous]

It is my understanding that you need 12 months of on time payments before you can look at a new mortgage.  The longer the time frame, the better.  What did you get for a mod?  We got a loan mod 3 years ago at a fixed rate and have no need to refi.

[StartingOver10]

No,  12 months of on time payments will NOT do when you have 120 days past due. Once you have hit 120 days past due you need to follow the foreclosure timelines for getting a new mortgage.  So to refi your current mortgage would be 3 years for an FHA loan and 4 to 7 years for conventional. 

Edited due to info in Shane's post

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

Some lenders will go by 120 = foreclosure, but that isn't a FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie or Freddie guideline.  The 120 days late = foreclosure is more of a sub-prime/jumbo guideline that we still see.  There could also be some lenders who have overlays on FHA/VA/USDA/Fannie/Freddie programs that would treat it the same as a foreclosure, but it's pretty rare these days.  However, after a loan mod is successfully completed, you'll need at least 12 months of on time payments (just a general guideline that most lenders follow). 

[Anonymous]

We are actually in a similar situation. Our last payment for Loan modification that showed late was Feb of 2015 and we would be coming up on 12 months of on time payments. But we sold our house in October of 2016 so our credit report only shows Mar-October of on time payments (7 months) but a mortgage lender I spoke with said that we would just have to get past that 1 year mark of that last late payment and should be fine. Fingers crossed this is true!!! Good luck to you!

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

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@Anonymous wrote:

We are actually in a similar situation. Our last payment for Loan modification that showed late was Feb of 2015 and we would be coming up on 12 months of on time payments. But we sold our house in October of 2016 so our credit report only shows Mar-October of on time payments (7 months) but a mortgage lender I spoke with said that we would just have to get past that 1 year mark of that last late payment and should be fine. Fingers crossed this is true!!! Good luck to you!

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That is also correct, just need to be 12 months out.  Most people don't get a mod and sell the home shortly after, but that is fine to do and you can still be eligible for a new loan.