student loans defaulted

Pay them off???

You hosed on getting a mortgage, especially any kind of government backed laon, unless you pay them off. It will take 7-10 years before they will drop off so unless you are willing to wait that long you're gonna have to settle them. How much was the defaulted amount?

pay them to zero or 12 consecutive on time payments.

You need to pay them period.. FHA loans are government backed loans, and prior to issuing an approval, your file is run through a government system called CAVERS (Credit Alert Interactive Voice Response System). This systems checks to see if you owe the federal government any money, and whether your payments are current. It looks for items such as back taxes, student loans, SBA loans etc... if you defaulted on any of them, it will not approve your loan.. FHA says if you were in default, but you have made 12 payments on time, they will approve you.. However Sallie Mae says that if your loan is in default, even if you're making up the payments, until the loan is completely caught up, they will not report it to show "current" on the credit report.. Best thing to do is to refinance your student loans into a new loan, and make the payments on time.. You're probably a good 12 to 24 months away from getting in a position to qualify for a mortgage.. I'm a Broker here in Scottsdale AZ and I only lend in Arizona. If you or someone you know is looking for financing options, feel free to contact me or pass along my information. 480-287-5714 WilliamAcres.com

Student loans are not dischargeable and as you have found out, once you default on a government debt you are not eligible for government financing programs. Contact your student loan center and see what you can do to re-establish your payment plan. Once you do that and make 12 consecutive, on-time payments, it is likely it won't be held against you. The other option is to pay them off. ~ Bert Carpenter, The LoansA2z team of NOVA Home Loans ~ NMLS 40586 ~ www.LoansA2z.com 888-889-9950

It's hard to say exactly what you need to do to get your credit going in the right direction without more info. For starters, look into consolidating the loans, have an auto-pay set up from checking so you can make sure they are paid on time and also that will make documenting the payments easy for you. The lenders I work with like to see 12 months of on time payments after any lates to get you approved, also you must meet the minimum credit score to qualify as well. Let me know if this advice has been helpful for you. I know it's just a tidbit!

Contact the student loan collection firm and see what repayment plan you can enter into you want to have a program that allows you to make at least 9 on time payments and your loan is reinstated. If that option is not available then you will have to pay the loans off. Good Luck I can be reached at ballen@accessnational.com

I paid the balance of my student loans off with the 8K check that I received when I bought my house in 2009 even though they were in collection. I didn't have any issue with my mortgage because of the default and it was FHA.