Original: it is still likely that this couple would have qualified to borrow shortly after the short sale even under the old rules, as they were [not] delinquent on the payments on their short sale home at the time of the sale.

Sorry, your attempt to change my statement to state that the couple was not delinquent on the short sale home when they sold it is contradicted by the article, which says:

Oh, my apologies. I thought you left a word out that made your statement make sense. If they were in fact delinquent at the time of the short sale, they wouldn't have qualified for a conventional dog house--even under the old rules. Had they NOT been delinquent, they MIGHT have qualified immediately, for example, for a new FHA loan.