Former homeowners become “boomerang buyers”

Some South Florida homeowners whose properties were seized in the housing market crash five years ago have finally rebuilt enough credit to buy a new home, a sign of recovery in the market.

Normally Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers must wait seven years before they can qualify for a new mortgage after a foreclosure. In cases where the foreclosure is included in a bankruptcy, however, borrowers only have to wait four years.

Those who sold their homes before the bank foreclosed have to wait even less time: only two years, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

“Time will heal everything, and that’s what’s happening here,” Jim Flood, regional manager for Supreme Lending in Plantation, told the Sentinel. “I think it’s great that people are getting a second chance. Don’t we all want that in life?”

Since most major lenders follow this guideline, many of the 167,000 homeowners in Palm Beach and Broward counties that lost their properties in short sales or foreclosures since the beginning of 2007 could qualify. [Sun Sentinel]  — Angela Hunt