Mortgage lender help! Post ch 13

[Anonymous]

We are looking to get new construction. Our ch13 just discharged a month ago.. We went with a builder & was approved for both va & fha with a great rate. We had issues with getting our coe & the va said our estimated time for a resolution is sept of next year. We don't want to wait that long. Going with fha we'd have to put down more than we'd like to get under the loan limit. So we found another builder to get a much cheaper home where the loan limit won't be an issue. The problem now is their in house mortgage company says the fha rule a year post discharge even for ch13. I have never heard of that. Ppl can even get a mortgage while still in a ch13. Is there any lender anyone can suggest? My husband filed alone & his middle mortgage score is 685. I was not in the bankruptcy & my middle mortgage score is 725. Our DTI isn't an issue. Their lender didn't even run our credit or get any info from us. Just blew us off & said those are the fha rules. Please help!

[VALoanMaster]

Hi @Anonymous,

FHA does not require a year post discharge of a chapter 13 to be eligible. Like you said, you can actually qualify for an FHA or VA loan 12 months into a ch 13.

I'm also curious about VA saying it's going to take a year to resolve the COE issue.

How long is it going to take the builder to complete the home?
I would run your pre-approval both ways & work on getting the COE during construction so you can take advantage of VA by the time the builder is ready to close.

[Anonymous]

My husband's length of service was only 13mo. He left due to mst. His DD-214 says honorable discharge. The va said minimum requirement is 24mo. The va suggested filing for disability due to mst which changes length of service requirement. So we filed for disability a couple months ago & the estimated completion date is sept of next yr.

Is there a lender u can suggest that might help? We tried explaining that there is no wait period for fha & the loan officer said we're incorrect. So frustrating! The other builder had no issues.

[VALoanMaster]

Per the VA website:

What if I don’t meet the minimum service requirements?

You may still be able to get a COE if you were discharged for one of the reasons listed below.

You must have been discharged for one of these reasons:

• Hardship, or
• The convenience of the government (you must have served at least 20 months of a 2-year enlistment), or
• Early out (you must have served 21 months of a 2-year enlistment), or 
• Reduction in force, or
• Certain medical conditions, or
• A service-connected disability (a disability related to your military service)

So it says certain medical conditions OR a service connected disability.

It sounds like someone needs to push the issue up the chain.

[Anonymous]

But there's nothing on his DD-214 that states that. They put erroneous enlistment. But it is in his captains mast. We've basically reached a deadend.