Hi all,

Because myself and Laura had twins last year while my K1 was still processing we need to get a bigger place now that our babies are on the verge of getting mobile. we had a meeting with our bank that Laura has banked with for many years, 9she added me to the account after we got married), and got approved for a mortgage. However, because I am currently out of status awaiting my green card which could take ages the bank had to remove me from the mortgage application to get approval, so the mortgage is approved purely on Laura's income.

We've now found a hosue and have put in an offer but the realtor, (part of our extended family here) has called me today stating that without me be named on the title of the house I would have no claim to it should something happen to Laura. Obviously I'm concerned about this as I will be paying over 20% of the house value as a down payment out of my own savings and should something horrible happen to Laura I wouldn't want us, and especially the kids to be homeless.

Does anyone know of a way that I can be named on the property title without being named on the mortgage?

Thanks,
Darren.

im no lawyer or real esate agent, but i would think a quick claim deed might be able to get you name on the house

It really isn't as dire as it seems . If your wife predeceases you her estate is where her house would go. I would assume you are the person that would be named. The hard part is to either pay off or get new money so you wouldn't have to liquidate the property. How long are you going to have to wait to be in status. Is it possible to put off the house for a little ? I am sure it is exciting moving up but it might be better money wise to delay a few months.

I've no idea how long I'll be out of status for - the wait according to VJ could be well over a year until I get conditional permanent status, plus I don't intend on returning to work in the short to medium term anyway as I want to stay home and look after the babies, (I have savings that I can live off for a few years, but not enough to buy a house for cash although I can allocate about 50k for the deposit). The house we've found is perfect so we really want to push ahead, plus the place all four of us are living in at the moment is far too small for us. I also don't want to wait any longer as it's a buyers market at the moment and it may not be in the future.





thanks - I'll mention this to our attorney tomorrow when he's back in the office.

***

Ask if you can be put on the deed.

Just because you aren't on the mortgage doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to be 'in title' to the property. Couples buy property all the time where the loan documents are held in only one name but the title to the property is in both.

Also - you've got babies. Get some wills written. You'll sleep better at night.

We've been told by both an attorney and the bank sorting the mortgage that it is impossible for me and Laura to be listed on the title of the property until I have residency - which could take a long time. Only the people on the loan can take title - which seems totally dumb to me. Maybe Wyoming does things differently to states with more sense.

Ridiculous.

That's weird that you can't be listed ion the deed. We're buying a house right now and initially my husband didn't have his green card. He was still going to be on the deed (title). However, the 1st house we wanted fell through and by the time we found a second one, his greencard was approved. I was not aware that condidtional residents can't be property owners. I'd get another professional opinion on that.

In the meantime, I'd have some other legal document drawn up that states in the event of Laura's death, the property goes to you. Or if the marriage fails, that its acknowledged your financial contribution is to be reimbursed. Best to have all bases covered, just in case.

Good luck!

I've just spoken to the guy at the bank again and it seems the only reason I can't be listed on the loan and thus the title is because the couldn't find a record of my social security details from my number. I applied for an SSN about two weeks after arriving permanently in march and received my card in early April. However, it would seem that something related to the SSN has not been activated despite me receiving it.

I'm shortly going to go to the Social Security office here in Cheyenne and see if they can shed some light. If it turns out something is amiss then I may be able to be listed on the loan after all and the problem would be solved.

I seem to recall reading peoples posts in the past on here having problems with their social security number, I've just done a search but can't find anything appropriate to my issue. Can anyone shed any light on what the problem could be with my SSN - obviously at the moment I'm awaiting my conditional permanent residency, so am officially out of status I guess, but the same SSN stays with me for life doesn't it so a record of me should still exist surely?

Any help will be greatly appreciated. I'm off to grab a shower now and then get the babies ready to leave so will check back on here before I go.

Well, the bank won't be able to pull a credit history for you, since you just arrived here. I think that may be what he means that there is no record of you. Otherwise, I have never heard of getting a SS# "activated".

But still, once the loan is on the books, your wife should be able to process a quick claim deed and add your name that way. I am very skeptical about what you're being told about that. The loan, I understand. The deed, I don't.

Any problem that you may have is with the lender...they do not want your name on title per their own rules. Your wife cannot retitle the house without their permission as they charge for this service....credit check, new loan origination, etc.

She can always write a will to protect you.

Are you sure you don't mean "QUIT claim deed?" I had to do this when I was divorced and needed the house in just my name. We did a quit claim deed to get my ex husband's name off of the house which meant he had no rights to the house. Like you "quit" your "claim" to the "deed". Or is there a quick claim that puts you on?

If the SSN is too new, other institution might not have it (well....I think DMV did not have mine after 6 months but we are talking about DMV here... ). I remember also that a background check for a job cannot be completed because SSN was too new.

Anyway, we were told to go to SSA office to get manual verification which means get a print out stating my name + SSN - signed by the person who was there at the counter that day. Problem solved for us.

As for name on deed, everybody already gave you good input. Good luck!

I called the 1-800 number for the national SS dept a few minutes ago and was told this too before I saw this post. I'm off down to the local office now with all my ID. Thanks to everyone who replied.

Fingers crossed this solves the problem.

Sounds like a strange way to do business. What about all the people who own homes in the US but live in another country? (Canadians and Brits with vacation homes in Florida, for example.) I hadn't even applied to adjust my status when we purchased our home a few days after we married, and my name's on the deed. And the mortgage company was willing to add me to the mortgage (with no SSN and no GC) but because it would have increased our rate another .25% I chose not to do so. I'd kind of be concerned about that lender if that were me. But I find US business practices a little strange to begin with, so maybe that's "normal".

Your lender is a numskull and probably isn't bothering to ask the attorney who will close the loan if you can be in title. Social Security number or not - you can be. Maybe you can't be on the loan, but you can be in title. Even if his investor is saying they won't buy the mortgage, that's bogus. Tell them to find it in the FNMA (Federal National Mortgage Association) guidelines where you can't be in title. They won't be able to find it.

Anytime you have questions about Social Security, research the posts of the member I Quit.

Agreed... after the mortgage and deed has been recorded, your wife can add you to the title through a quit claim deed. You can either get an attorney to assist you with this, but it is a relatively easy document and you could draft it yourself with a little research.

Right, just got back after a grueling day running about all over the place trying to get this sorted. At least now I now my options.

Firstly, I went to the SS office and got them to print and sign a letter stating that my SSN was processed and correct. The SS office did say it often can take over 6 months for financial institutions, etc. to have access to my SSN as the system was very slow in propagating around every it could be needed. I then went to the bank and handed this letter in to the guy who's been dealing with our mortgage application. I couldn't wait while he reapplying and processed everything as I had to get the car in to the garage to get the balancing sorted as my wife hit a kerb the other day and I wanted to get it sorted out before any excess wear on the tires occurred.

A couple of hours later I went back to the bank who had already drawn up documents now INCLUDING me on the mortgage application. At this point I was totally happy..... however - the original mortgage was drawn up under a scheme which gave a lower interest rate to people that had never owned land before, (http://www.wyomingcda.com/), as my wife has owned a house but it was on her parents land she qualified. HOWEVER, I DO NOT, as I owned a house in the UK within their 3 three year disqualification from the scheme time period. <Sigh>

Thus we have two options:

1. My wife can be the sole mortgage applicant and sole holder of the title to our new home, (it is not possible for me to be added at a later date while the mortgage is still active under the lower interest rate scheme.) We could possibly refinance in several years time under a different company or scheme at the standard going interest rate, (which would cost several thousand in refinancing costs, etc. as we'd have to pay all the fees, surveys and certifications again), and have me added then, or if we decided to move in several years once my permanent residency is sorted then we could apply together no problems.

2. We can apply together now on a standard mortgage at an exchange rate of 6.625% rather than the 6.00% she is applicable to under the above scheme by applying on her own, meaning our monthly payments would be around $120 higher.

Either way isn't ideal, but at least I know my options now. I'll decide over the weekend now whether it will be worth it to pay the extra each month for the peace of mind in having a claim to the property in any bad case scenario, (Laura's death, etc. Sounds really crappy having to think about such cases, but I have to plan ahead for our daughters.) Of course, as someone suggested above, we will both make wills soon, ensuring in either case we will keep our home in event on the death of the other, (we're both in our 30's, it seems strange and morbid having to plan for these eventualities.) I already have Laura named on my life insurance, but Laura is also going to take out a policy naming me soon too.

I can honestly say I never even comprehended that such a situation would be so complicated, but at least now we know the directions we can move forward in. I just hope with all the delays that our dream house doesn't sell in the meantime as we've been househunting every day off we've had together for weeks and totally fell in love with this place as a home to raise our baby girls.

Just as an aside - if we were to take a 30 year mortgage at a fixed rate of 6.625%, how does this compare to previous years? I have no experience of US interest rates, so don't know whether this is a reasonable deal over such a period. I don't want to take on such a long commitment if the interest rates are unnaturally high at the moment and likely to spend most of the 30 years below the fixed rate! any advice is appreciated!

Anyway, I hope my experience can prove of at least some use to people in a similar predicament in the future on VJ.

Unfortunately as you will probably see from my long post we would be up for fraud if my wife took the cheaper interest rate option through WCDA and then tried to add me to the property title through a quit claim deed in this case. Sorry i didn't have all the facts when I posted for help but I've spent all day today trying to get the lowdown on what our options are and how things work over here. Everything is totally different to the UK and I feel so dumb sometimes. I considered myself pretty streetwise in the UK, and now feel utterly stupid not knowing how things work here. I never even heard of the WCDA before so this didn't strike me as significant when referenced on the multitude of forms. Thanks so much for trying to help though, it's really appreciated.

I've just run through all the figures again and noticed that our lender has massively overestimated on the taxes applicable, plus screwed up a couple of other figures, so the difference between us taking the mortgage out together and the lenders original figures is only $40 per month, granted it's still much higher if the lender had correct figures on his quote to us, but from a psychological point of view we were already mentally prepared to pay similar. So, I may consider paying the extra and being on the title from the start, after all we'd save a cost per month on Laura having to have life insurance then, (probably around $25 per month saved0, and I would be off the mark in building a credit history too. I dunno... at least now I'm stuck until Monday so have a few days to weigh up the pros and cons of which way to proceed.

A quit claim does not add anyone to the title...its the last thing you would ever want to file. As the name sez, you QUIT any claim that you may have had on the title in favor of some other person who is already on the title. Its an easy way to transfer title to an ex-wife for example, if you were previous both on the title and you have agreed to transfer title in her name only.

Use a transfer deed or something of that sort. Im not sure about Wyoming, but she may be signing a Trust deed which will be held by a trustee until the mortgage is paid. You cannot change the holders on that title without permission of the mortgage holder, and the bank charges for that service.