Ali and Mariluci Sleiman wanted to buy a house. The couple, who run a day care service inside their first-floor rental apartment, had outgrown their space in Taunton, a small city in southern Massachusetts. They also wanted to avoid answering to a landlord who might complain about 10 little kids running around all day. They were “desperate to buy a home,” Ali told me. And with good credit and $46,000 in joint income, they hoped they wouldn’t have a hard time getting a loan. So they were disappointed when the bank rejected their application, and then when a local credit union did too.
Six years ago, a deluge of mortgage lending sparked a credit crisis that led to the worst financial meltdown since the Depression. Now, after years of chastened retreat, we are in the midst of a lending drought.
Sub-Prime we now refer to as Non-Prime or Non-Conforming or simply Non-QM is making a return comeback HOWEVER, the major difference now from six + yrs. ago is the common sense of verifying income, the ability to repay adherence and the reduced LTV. Currently borrowers must have skin in the game meaning they must put down an ample down payment as opposed to the past where majority of loans were 95-100% LTV so the borrower’s had nothing to lose by walking away. Today is a different owrld of lending and there are alot of good people who had a some past credit issues which has caused them not to qualify for a loan today. But hope is here as lenders are lending to borrowers who can display the clear ability to repay the debt who once had tarnished credit.