After a foreclosure, renting seems less stressful

Some former homeowners appear to have lost much of their will to go through the underwriting process for a new home loan — even years after a foreclosure.

“I’ve seen people spend five or six months working with a mortgage officer only to be denied a loan,” said Dan Sullivan, a foreclosure prevention specialist in Pittsburgh. “They are tired. You can see it on their faces. They find a comfort zone in renting.

“Renting allows more freedom and less stress …. I had one client say to me, ‘I’ll never own a rake again.’”

Data from he Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center suggest people who lost homes to foreclosure are still licking their wounds: It found 19 million current renters who had been homeowners in the past 16 years.

The uphill battle many people face after a foreclosure can be discouraging. Sullivan said it can take two to four years for a interested borrowers to boost their credit score above 620, the typical threshold for a mortgage.

— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.