Foreclosure restricts future home financing

Homeowners going through foreclosure today may have to wait five years before they are able to get financing for a home again. That’s according to new federal guidelines from the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Mortgage Corp., otherwise known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And after those five years, a borrower would have to have a Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO) credit score of 680 and put 10 percent down, said Leslie Swart, managing partner and senior loan officer at Blue Skye Lending in Lakewood Ranch. A FICO score ranges from 300 to 850 points and factors in things like length of credit history, how timely a person is in paying his or her bills and how much an individual has in debt versus available credit, according to Bankrate.com. About 27 percent of the nation falls into the 750-799 scoring range, according to FICO. The smallest category 2 percent – has scores of 499 or less.

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