How long will a Foreclosure affect my ability
to get a home loan?

Possibly forever.

Notice that I did not title this entry "How long does a foreclosure appear on my credit record?" The answer to that question is "up to seven years." Actually, a Foreclosure should not appear on your credit record for more than seven years but you might to need to have the credit reporting bureaus remove it for you. They tend to 'forget' to do that sort of thing. But I digress.

A "Notice of Foreclosure" in Washington State is a recorded document; its recorded at the local County Recorder's Office. Forever. Even if you fully paid off your mortgage payment delinquency before the cut-off date, the best that you can do is get a "Cancellation of Foreclosure" recorded.

You cannot 'un-record' the Notice of Foreclosure.

Further, a careful lender can check the county recorder's office to see if you have any liens, foreclosure, etc. I do this from time to time and I'm not a bank. Why not? These documents are on the recorder's site forever.

That's one of the 'benefits' of filing bankruptcy earlier instead of later: if you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy before the Notice of Foreclosure is recorded, you can head them off at the pass, so to speak, and prevent that Notice of Foreclosure from ever being recorded. To do this, you will need to surrender the house back to the bank some time after filing the Bankruptcy petition.
May 4

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