• Extenuating circumstances may reduce the amount of time you'll need to wait after a foreclosure to get another mortgage.My Home for sale image by Primabild from Fotolia.com
  
  

At Least Three Years

• Generally, borrowers who had their principal residence or any other real estate foreclosed upon within the past three years are ineligible for a mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration, according to FHA Handbook 4155.1. The borrower must reestablish sufficient credit after the foreclosure to meet the FHA's minimum credit requirements.
  
  

Extenuating Circumstances Exceptions

• A borrower may purchase a home less than three years after a foreclosure if he can document that extenuating circumstances led to the foreclosure. Qualifying circumstances are considered beyond the control of the borrower, according to the FHA Handbook. They include serious illness or death of the wage earner. Divorce or inability to sell the home for job relocation purposes are not considered extenuating circumstances.
  
  

Bottom Line

• The FHA will consider applications three years from the date of the foreclosure or trustee sale date. The trustee sale is the auction conducted by the lender. In some areas, it's known as a sheriff's sale. A borrower may qualify after less time has passed if the foreclosure resulted from death or illness of one of the wage-earning borrowers on the loan.