According to the situation and Mortgage Center policies and guidelines, we generally require that two to seven years have passed before you can qualify for a mortgage. In the case of a foreclosure the waiting period is 7 years. With a short sale, the seven year wait may be reduced to a minimum of 2 years with a downpayment of at least 20%. In the case of a bankruptcy, we require that 4 years have passed. In addition, in all cases you must have re-established an acceptable credit history with new loans or credit cards, and your minimum credit score must be 640.