Posted on: 28th Aug, 2008 10:58am
If you do not meet the income requirements for an FHA home loan, you can use a cosigner to qualify for the loan. FHA loans are primarily offered to those who occupy the property as principal residence. But a cosigner on an FHA loan is not required to use the property as a primary residence. For instance, if your parents own a home of their own, but want to help you purchase a home of your own, they can cosign with you as non-occupying cosigners.
Who can qualify as a cosigner?
A cosigner on an FHA loan needs to meet the following criteria:
- He has to be your blood relative (e.g. father, mother, uncle, etc.) to be a cosigner on the loan.
- If he is not your relative, you will have to prove that you have a long-standing, substantial relationship with him.
- He should meet all the required eligibility requirements (income, debt, credit, etc.) which you as a primary borrower have to meet.
Can anyone having an FHA loan cosign on another FHA loan?
It is possible that an individual has an FHA loan on his own property and he cosigns on your FHA loan on a different property. As long as the cosigner's debt-to-income ratio does not exceed the allowable limit, he can cosign on the FHA loan to help you qualify.
Can a cosigner help you qualify even if you have bad credit?
A cosigner can help you qualify for the FHA loan if you do not have good credit. However, if there are negative items like judgments, collections, etc. on your credit report, you will not get approved for the mortgage. In that case, a cosigner even with very good credit scores cannot help you qualify.
Hello there.
My husband and I are trying to qualify for an FHA loan. My father has offered to co-sign, but I am getting conflicting information.
Here is the scenario:
I am just shy of being approved on my own for the amount we want. Husband has credit issues and cannot qualify. My credit is fine, but I need a bit more income. Husband makes more than enough to qualify us, but his divorce caused a lot of issues.
Father does not live with me, and owns a home, but does not have an FHA mortgage.
Can he be a co-borrower or co-signer or help us at all? Is this a lender choice?
Thank you for your time.
L
My husband and I are trying to qualify for an FHA loan. My father has offered to co-sign, but I am getting conflicting information.
Here is the scenario:
I am just shy of being approved on my own for the amount we want. Husband has credit issues and cannot qualify. My credit is fine, but I need a bit more income. Husband makes more than enough to qualify us, but his divorce caused a lot of issues.
Father does not live with me, and owns a home, but does not have an FHA mortgage.
Can he be a co-borrower or co-signer or help us at all? Is this a lender choice?
Thank you for your time.
L
I have excellent credit but my debt to income ratio is limiting my eligibility for an FHA -or any--loan. My brother with whom I want to purchase a home has poorer credit but all three scores over 620--lowest is 627 but has some bad debt and an unresolved judgment which he cannot pay off at this time but reliable income. What are our options?
Hello,
I am currently trying to get an approval on an FHA loan. My fiancee's mother is cosigning with me, everything is set and the only oustanding issue that the the underwriters are looking for proof of my relationship between my future mother in law and me. They asked for any joint account that my fiancee and I might have together, utility bills etc. The problem is that we have kept our accounts seperate and do not currently live together, so we don't have bills in both our names, although we have been together for over 3 years and have been engaged for just over a year. The underwriters and main loan contacts have been extremely slow in getting back to us as to what they want and the scheduled closing date is coming up soon. I would appreciate any suggestions or insights on what the underwriters are looking for and will accept as proof, thank you for your help.
I am currently trying to get an approval on an FHA loan. My fiancee's mother is cosigning with me, everything is set and the only oustanding issue that the the underwriters are looking for proof of my relationship between my future mother in law and me. They asked for any joint account that my fiancee and I might have together, utility bills etc. The problem is that we have kept our accounts seperate and do not currently live together, so we don't have bills in both our names, although we have been together for over 3 years and have been engaged for just over a year. The underwriters and main loan contacts have been extremely slow in getting back to us as to what they want and the scheduled closing date is coming up soon. I would appreciate any suggestions or insights on what the underwriters are looking for and will accept as proof, thank you for your help.
This is just conjecture, but maybe they'll accept a copy of your engagement announcement, assuming there was one published in the local paper. Maybe if your wedding is already planned (sounds like maybe not), they can verify with the officiant who'll be doing the ceremony. Have they given you any hint as to what they'll accept as adequate proof of your relationship?
Thanks for the reply, they haven't really indicated what they would accept as proof, other than requesting joint account statements etc (which we don't have) and letters explaining my relationship with my cosigner. I've offerred a few suggestions (proof of our engagement trip, letters from wedding planner), but they are extremely slow at responding, usually a few days to a week or more for a response! Our scheduled closing date is coming up mid august, so I've been hounding them like crazy to see what they will accept, just wanted to see if anyone else had any suggestions.
You should pursue your lender constantly so that he will take steps in this regard asap. You may even ask the lender as to what documents you may provide so that they can clear the deal asap.
Did you file for your marriage license yet? That might be a valid method of proof...but of course you want to make sure there's no deadline date on it.
Their response time is outrageous. No way should you be subject to a week's worth of delays in simply answering a simple question. What kind of chimps are you dealing with?
Can you escalate your concerns to a higher authority? That's worthy of consideration, too.
Their response time is outrageous. No way should you be subject to a week's worth of delays in simply answering a simple question. What kind of chimps are you dealing with?
Can you escalate your concerns to a higher authority? That's worthy of consideration, too.
Hello,
I was a co-signer for a friend when he refinanced his house in 2006, but was then foreclosed in July 2008. I would like to purchase a 300k-400K house in California. If I work 30 hours per week, making $17/hour, and have my brother as a co-signer, who makes $100K/year and has very good credit, would I qualify for a loan?
Thank you
I was a co-signer for a friend when he refinanced his house in 2006, but was then foreclosed in July 2008. I would like to purchase a 300k-400K house in California. If I work 30 hours per week, making $17/hour, and have my brother as a co-signer, who makes $100K/year and has very good credit, would I qualify for a loan?
Thank you
Rose, there is too much that we don't know about you to give you a proper answer. I would have to believe that your credit has been damaged severely by the foreclosure, but then again that was three years ago. Do you have sufficient documentation to demonstrate that you were simply a cosigner and not the primary borrower?
Keep in mind that lenders don't consider a cosigner to be a lesser debtor than a borrower - when you sign a promissory note you take 100% responsibility for that debt.
You'd have to sound out a lender or three to get proper opinions on your current qualifications. We don't know enough here.
Keep in mind that lenders don't consider a cosigner to be a lesser debtor than a borrower - when you sign a promissory note you take 100% responsibility for that debt.
You'd have to sound out a lender or three to get proper opinions on your current qualifications. We don't know enough here.
My husband is self-employed. He does not yet have 2 years of 1099s. We both have Good credit scores. If we got a co-signer (my father), do you know if would we be able to qualify for an FHA loan without waiting for the 2 years?
Do you have any idea of the chances of getting turned down even after the two years of verified income and having to go with a cosigner anyway? The reason I ask is that we won't be able to write anything off this year on taxes in order to show higher income, and will have to fork over $18,000+ for taxes. If we are still going to have to go the cosigner route anyway, we'd rather save that $$$
THanks for any help!
Jenny
Do you have any idea of the chances of getting turned down even after the two years of verified income and having to go with a cosigner anyway? The reason I ask is that we won't be able to write anything off this year on taxes in order to show higher income, and will have to fork over $18,000+ for taxes. If we are still going to have to go the cosigner route anyway, we'd rather save that $$$
THanks for any help!
Jenny
I have collections on my credit report due to a divorce. My prolem is that I need a mortgage for a property that it appraised for 137K but I'm getting it for 62K minus 3000 down. I'd like to get a mortgage for 89K pay off all the bills from the divorce and then let my credit recoup so that I can get a mortgage on my own without the cosigner. Yet I find that even with a cosigner I cant seem to even get to that point. I can't clear up the bad debt without the mortgage and I can't get the mortgage cause of the bad debt. Now what?
Hi jjmont!
Welcome to forums!
I can understand the tough situation that you're going through. I will suggest you to take some steps in order to pay off your delinquent debts and improve your credit score. Once your credit gets improved, you will be able to get a mortgage. You can talk to your friends and family members and they may help you with a personal loan to pay off the debts.
Feel free to ask if you've further queries.
Sussane
Welcome to forums!
I can understand the tough situation that you're going through. I will suggest you to take some steps in order to pay off your delinquent debts and improve your credit score. Once your credit gets improved, you will be able to get a mortgage. You can talk to your friends and family members and they may help you with a personal loan to pay off the debts.
Feel free to ask if you've further queries.
Sussane
My credit score is 600 and my husbands credit score is lower than mine but his fathers credit score is higher than mine around 680 Can my husbands father be my cosigner on an FHA loan?
Hi Esha!
Welcome to forums!
As your father-in-law's credit score is good and up to the standards of FHA, he can co-sign for a FHA loan with you. There won't be any problem with that. After you improve your credit scores, you can refinance your mortgage in order to remove your father-in-law from your mortgage.
Feel free to ask if yoe further queries.
Sussane
Welcome to forums!
As your father-in-law's credit score is good and up to the standards of FHA, he can co-sign for a FHA loan with you. There won't be any problem with that. After you improve your credit scores, you can refinance your mortgage in order to remove your father-in-law from your mortgage.
Feel free to ask if yoe further queries.
Sussane