Getting Home After Bankruptcy

Two years to the day after your discharge you can sign papers on an fha loan to get a new home. Not one day sooner! Make sure though that in the next two years you do everything you can to get your credit score up. It has to be in the upper 600's. Hope this helps.

We have a foreclosure on our record, and per the FHA guidelines, we are ineligible to qualify for a mortgage with FHA financing for 4 years after the date of the foreclosure. Bankruptcy will have similar guidelines (check with a mortgage broker to be sure, any of them can tell you what the rules are).

Immediately after our foreclosure, we had to find a place to rent. Because we had good credit other than our foreclosure (we had never been late on any payments except our mortgage), it was relatively easy to find a place to rent. A friend of mine had both a bankruptcy and a foreclosure on her record (due to a divorce that went badly) and she had a very hard time finding a place to rent. She stuck with it and did eventually find a nice house to rent, but it took some searching.

Good luck, and hang in there. It gets easier with time, as your credit score improves.

You could face some challenges. Especially after a recent bankruptcy discharge.

I believe Chapter 7 stays with you for seven years. Landlords may shy away because of the bankruptcy. I would suggest an apartment for a year or two so you can build up your good credit. Good luck.

As long as you have a steady income and your income can handle the rent, it shouldn't be a problem renting a home. Buying a home is probably out of the question for a few years. We're on our way to being in the same boat as you are.