FHA Relocation Within First Year

[Scott Thompson]

I am looking at purchasing my first property in the near future using an FHA loan, but have a question regarding the requirement to occupy the home for the first year. I am on a rotational program at my company where they put us through 3 distinct one-year rotations, and we have literally no visibility into where they are going to place us until approximately one month before starting the new position. If I were to purchase a SFR or duplex and then 3 months later find out that I'm being sent to California, does this exempt me from the owner-occupy requirement for the remainder of the first year? How does that work?

I've read a thousand posts and articles about how if you relocate you're allowed to pick up a second FHA mortgage, but I'm not interested in that at all and none of them seem to specify whether that applies during the first year. I don't see anything on the HUD website or anywhere else on the WWW indicating that this situation would be particularly problematic, but wanted to consult the (much wiser) folks on BP.