Waiting periods after financial events

[Brooke Isbell]

Just wanted to start a discussion here and see what others are thinking. I heard economists speculating recently that since the Fed is saying they will not raise interest rates for at least another year or two, that banks will now be forced to loosen the reigns and starting lending again. My question was "to whom?" It certainly won't be to the unemployed. So then I saw some random article about banks possibly eliminating the waiting periods after foreclosures, bankruptcies and/or short sales to those who otherwise qualify (financially recovered, high incomes, etc). This would however, potentially create a situation where "squatters" are rewarded for strategically defaulting. In all fairness, the article I read (that speculated banks might waive these waiting periods) was only one article and I found nothing else to support that information. Just wondering if there is any truth to that, since doing so would mean the buying pool would become quite large again very quickly and housing prices would rise at least in the short term. Thoughts?