If Want to Buy A House You Better Not Get Pregnant

An article in the New York Times is reporting that some mortgage lenders are now looking at pregnancy as a factor in determining whether you qualify for a mortgage.  Now, the lender can't specifically ask you if you are pregnant, but they can ask if your employment status is going to change because of some sort of expected leave of absence. If you are on maternity leave or paternity leave the lender may treat you as if you are off the job and therefore don't have enough income to qualify for the mortgage. Some lenders are requiring you to reapply once leave has ended and you are back on the job.

“Lenders are picking and choosing what part of the Freddie and Fannie guidelines they want to use and how they will interpret them because one bad loan could put a company out of business,” said Jeffrey J. Jaye, president of the Upfront Mortgage Brokers Association, a trade group for brokers who disclose their fees upfront. For some lenders, that may mean approving a loan only after the borrower is back at work “There is no real assurance that the new mom will come back to work after she has the baby,” said Marc Savitt, president of the Mortgage Center, a brokerage in Martinsburg, W.Va.

So much for buying a house because your family growing.

Tara Siegel Bernard has more: Link