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What is the logic behind the 3 year rule to qualify as a First Time Homebuyer? I have never owned a home, but I know that mortgages increase your credit rating (if they are current). Theorhetically, doesn't that mean that someone who has owned a home in the past have a higher credit rating than non-owners? How is this equitable and fair to those who have never owned a home?

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November 06 - US

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sunnyview
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I believe that the current 3 year rule to be a considered a "new" homebuyer again is for one specific purpose. That is to get people back into homeownership. The government wants Americans to feel like the housing sector/crisis is part of their concern. The best way to do that is to make them an owner with a "dog in the race." Homeowners are also easier to tax and lien if they don't meet their tax obligations to the government. Renters in this market are hoping that housing drops in value to come closer to the 2-3 times income that it has traditionally been, homeowners like the government itself right now want to keep values up to protect their investment. The tax credit is a way of trying to buy stability for the economy and a way of swaying Americans feelings about housing in general. That is my opinion anyway.

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November 07

jkonstant
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You are wasting your time seeking any logic out of our elected officials. Their definition of a first time home buyer is the least of the problems with this credit.

For the record, there are plenty of renters with incredibly high credit scores and plenty of homeowners with miserabley low scores. Owning or having owned is irrelevant. Paying your bills on time is what counts.

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November 07

pro fi
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I undertsand that credit isn't the determining factor. My question was more as to the logic. If you have owned a home previously, how can you then be a first time home buyer? The higher credit score would allow that owner to have a better interest rate though, right? So you get the benefit of the assistance/tax credit or break & a lower interest rate if you are a "First Time Home Buyer" that has previously owned a home, not to mention the ability the owner has to save money by virtue of being a homeowner over time vs the renter.

Just seems like a really strange concept, kinda like being pregnant and then being considered a virgin after the child turns 3.

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November 06

Cindy LaPeer, "cindylapeer"
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Cindy LaPeer, "cindylapeer"

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Credit score doesn't have anything to do with whether you qualify as a first time homebuyer. (Of course it does for the mortgage side of it.) The gov't considers a first time homebuyer someone who has never owned a home or hasn't owned a home in the last 3 years. It's like this for a lot of grant programs and other first time homebuyer programs. There is really nothing to be "fair" about b/c they don't look at your credit score as the criteria for fthb.

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November 06

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