The new lending guidelines which take effect December 13, 2010, will allow buyers to use gifts and grants from nonprofit groups to come up with their minimum 5% downpayment. This should help many young couples who are able to get part of the required downpayment from their family. While this change is good news for some, other changes that will take place will negatively affect many others. The debt to income ratio will now drop from 55% to 45%. Additionally, the waiting period to borrow after foreclosure will increase from 4 years to 7 years.