Can I get a home equity loan after a bankruptcy?

If your bankruptcy was a chapter 13 (which it sounds like), you would qualify for an FHA loan after just 12 months of on time payments. Being discharged recently, your loan will have to be manually underwritten for an FHA loan. As far as a HELOC, that is up to each individual bank's discretion since they are all a little different. Best to call around for those.

Hi Richard! My guess is that you will not qualify for a HELOC and for an alternative 1st Mortgage, that would be difficult as well as you would surely need to wait 2 years and not just 1 year. You would need to qualify on credit along with a debt to income ratio. If you take your Gross Income from Social Security and multiply that by 1.25%, you'll get the monthly amount that can be used for income purposes. Your PT Income will not be counted unless you have a steady 2 year history of collecting that. Anyway, take your Monthly Income from SS and then multiply that by 41% and that should be the number used for your Maximum Monthly Debt Total. So, let's assume your total income is $1,000 per month and 41% of that would be a Monthly Income of $410. Now, deduct your Monthly Real Estate Taxes on the Property along with the Monthly Homeowners Insurance and any Association Payment as well and you'll have an amount left over for the Principal and Interest payment or Interest Only payment if offered. If your Taxes and Insurance are $200 total, you'll have $210 left over which may be enough to get something, but I would not think you could qualify for FHA as they include Mortgage Insurance in their loan as well, which knocks more off of the usable income. Anyway, I'd speak to a Local Credit Union to see what they can offer to you through their Credit Committee and Portfolio Lending Options. Good Luck!

Hi Richard, I don't know of any banks or lenders who will offer HELOC's less than two years from a BK. Most banks will require 4+ years before they will even consider a HELOC.