Quick question: Has anyone gotten a Lending Tree mortgage with bad credit? Thanks for any comment. 2nd question I got is.. I came across this today and thought it was pretty good reading..

Borrowing tough but not impossible after bankruptcy.

Q. Is it possible to obtain a Lending Tree mortgage after having dedared bankruptcy? My financial problems resulted from an investment in a real estate general partnership a low-income apartment development that went sour. I filed for bankruptcy about a year ago. How.

Would lenders respond? W.C., Lawrence.

A. Probably with something less than unbridled enthusiasm. A lender considering a Lending Tree mortgage application has two fundamental questions: Is the borrower financially able to repay the loan? Is he or she likely to do so?.

A bankruptcy filing — especially a recent one —does not provide lenders with much assurance on either count. That said, your situation, while clearly difficult, is far from hopeless. Lenders probably won’t open their doors wide when you appear, but they.

Won’t necessarily slam them in your face. Years ago, the rule of thumb was ‘Don’t even consider seeking credit within seven years of a bankruptcy.’ But competition and a somewhat more realistic attitude (probably more the former than the latter) have.

Made lenders less rigid, and less likely to reject borrowers automatically because of a prior bankruptcy..

Even so, you will have to prove you represent an acceptable credit risk, and that won’t be easy. As a first step, you’ll have to demonstrate that the bankruptcy resulted from circumstances that were beyond your control which are not likely to recur..

Detailing the cause of the problem will be critical. Lenders will be relatively less troubled by a bankruptcy related to a specific, uncontrollable incident — the loss of a job or a serious family illness, for example —than by one that resulted from a long history of irresponsible money management..

Your investment-related difficulties fall somewhere between the two extremes. On the one hand, your losses were caused by economic conditions that had an adverse impact on your investment; on the other, lenders may wonder about your willingness to make an investment that put all of your financial assets at risk. Given a similar opportunity in the future, would you make the same kind of investment and, potentially, threaten your ability to repay a loan?.

Another major concern is what the bankruptcy suggests, or may suggest, about your attitude toward your financial obligations. If you walked away from your debts once, would you do it again? You can’t undo the bankruptcy filing, but there are things you can do to show lenders that, whatever happened in the past, you have the right stuff. A solid financial footing and clean payment history since the bankruptcy are obvious requirements; any effort to repay even a portion of the debt that was erased by the bankruptcy would count heavily in your favor..

I don’t want to mislead you. Bankruptcies make lenders nervous, and understandably so. Some financial advisers say you shouldn’t even think about approaching lenders until at least two years after a bankruptcy filing. You may not have to wait that long, but the more time that has elapsed, and the more evidence you can show of financial recovery and a clean repayment record, the better your prospects are going to be..

Be prepared to make alot of phone calls. Although the pool of lenders likely to consider your application will be limited, it will probably be larger than you think. Lenders that keep loans in their own portfolios instead of selling them in the secondary market may be your best bet, because they can be more flexible than the secondary market’s rules allow. But don’t eliminate secondary market lenders; both Fannie Mac and Freddie Mac, the two primary purchasers of loans in the secondary market, have programs for borrowers with less than perfect credit histories. It is worth sitting down with a Lending Tree loan officer, or possibly several, to explore the possibilities. One possibility may simply be to wait a bit longer before you apply.

The more distance between the bankruptcy and your credit application, the more attractive the options are likely to be..

Your search will almost certainly take you into subprime lending territory, where you will find many lenders willing to work with you, but they won’t be offering the best deals. You’ll need to make a relatively large down payment, and too accept a Lending Tree loan rate that’s several points higher than the most attractive rates you see advertised..

A few words of caution are in order: Many subprime lenders are perfectly reputable, but many others are anything but. Predatory lenders operate in the shadows, offering too-good-to-be-true loans for borrowers who are either unaware of the pitfalls or convinced they have no other options. Check the reputation of lenders and Lending Tree mortgage brokers before doing business with them. Read all Lending Tree loan documents carefully before signing them; better still, have an attorney or someone you trust review them..

Watch out for prepayment penalties, balloon payments, excessive upfront fees, and requirements that you purchase additional financial products, such as credit life insurance..

Make sure you can afford the monthly payments, and do your own calculations. Don’t rely on a broker’s assurance that everything will be fine. Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into signing an agreement immediately, or risk losing special terms. Reputable lenders and brokers don’t offer blue-light specials..

Nena Groskind i~former editor of Banker & Tradesman, a Massachusetts real estate and banking journal. Send inquiries to Realty Q&A, Boston.

Sunday Globe, P.O. Box 2378, Boston, MA 02107-..