Originally Posted by
rickair7777
To a degree their hands are tied by new rules enacted after the bad loan bubble burst in '08. They can't use fuzzy math or unproven income sources in their calculations.
We did two refi's since '08 and the first one was a biatch...nobody wanted to touch us under the new rules. Our income was low for the loan (wife out with a baby) and we were relying on liquid assets to balance that out.
After getting turned down by the current mortgage-holder and NFCU we went to the bank (not a CU) that holds our investments. They also said it didn't work with the new rules. Finally we just told them that they needed to find a way to make it happen since we had assets on account worth about four times the house in question. They found a way.
Maybe credit unions are subject to more restrictions than for-profit banks?
I'm not sure about credit unions, but I can tell you for a fact that as of today, your local 'community' bank
can approve loans and mortgages based on 'character'. Just because they
can doesn't mean they will of course.
I'd guess the problem for you MIL guys and gals is 1.) you probably have only dealt with the federal credit unions up until this point 2.) you might not have been anywhere long enough to establish community roots. In most cities and counties, there's usually dominate community bank and that is usually the one that is aggressive and more willing.
One would think, given the scenarios mentioned in the above posts, that a community bank in the county in which you want to settle down could see through the BS and finance you guys given your situations.
YMMV