There is a confluence of issues taking place in this question, and an answer will be difficult at best. Initially, owning a home in the U.S. today is a special kind of nightmare. Relevant to this asker is the likelihood that the home will have a lien placed on it by the child support collection authority in the asker's state. How the order of support came about is irrelevant; it is its enforcement that matters for everything in the asker's question. This means the home is now essentially seized and could possibly be auctioned by government for the collection of child support arrears. This is not to mention all of the other possible liens that can be applied by the various judgments the owner can acquire whether deliberately or inadvertently.

Every parking ticket, speeding ticket, unpaid utility bill, code violation, and credit card default can give rise to a lien against the home. Then there is the possibility of increases in property taxes and school taxes coupled with code enforcement that could drive the owner out of his home. Homes are the nation's new oil next to children, and there is an industry that profits off of peoples' homes.

As for any kind of home loan, there is no one answer as to whether child support arrears will affect getting a home loan. The existence of arrears by itself does not matter for many lenders, but the effect of the arrearage does. Paying child support compared to receiving it can be a major factor when applying for a VA loan. Child support is a regular installment payment lenders will count when calculating debt-to-income (DTI) ratio and residual income.

Child support that's in arrears is typically considered by lenders as "derogatory credit." Lenders often have a cap on the amount of derogatory collections a prospective borrower can have, which means getting behind on payments can jeopardize loan eligibility. Most of the time, child support in arrears will have to be paid in full before a VA loan can close. The asker can ignore the VA and possibly find another lender who cares less about child support arrears. For example, Fannie Mae guidelines do not specifically address child support delinquency. They only look at credit scoring, down payment, and debt-to-income ratios. Fannie Mae lists derogatory events that require special consideration; getting behind on child support payments is not one of them. Perhaps veteran status hurts rather than helps the home acquisition process. Also, some states have laws in place that prohibit imposing and enforcing liens on primary residences. These states virtually guaranty a roof over the owner's head without the risk of loss because of foreclosure and auction. Moving to such a state is one solution to the problem.

Current law whether family or banking undermines the American dream of home ownership by using children as the reason behind not being able to obtain a home loan. Add to that the out of control increases in housing prices, the typical American cannot own a home. In some cases, this is good and bad. The good is that the person denied the loan is not a judgment magnet for actions to cause the loss of the home while renting is socially looked down upon as if the renter is a loser.

One good approach is to modify one's mindset and conclude that renting is a salvation and an insulation from unnecessary legal trouble caused by the current American penchant to undermine traditional pillars of stability in the U.S. Maybe time will fix this if Americans learn to vote properly for lawmakers who uphold rather than destroy American values and goals.