Buying a house.... Question about title

[nitrous_guy 23]

Hi Guys, I recently received my 2 year conditional GC in August 2014.

Now we are looking into buying a house.

The issue is, my wife's credit history score is around the 500's, we are trying to improve on it.

I started working in May 2014, and I got approved for a pre-approved credit card at chase.

I recently checked my score on credit Karma, and it was around the 700's mark.

I always pay off my credit card, and use less than 9% of my total limit.

I was wondering, if I buy a house under my own name sometime next year, and when time comes to ROC, will this be seen as unacceptable, seeing that my wife possibly wont be on the house title, if her credit score is still low (We don't want to pay a higher interest rate)?

If we both go for a joint home loan, we both will be assessed individually and they will take the person's lowest score to give us a mortgage loan, i.e a higher interest rate, which we don't want.

We would still have joint utility bills under our names, shared accounts etc.

She is the petitioner, and I am the beneficiary.

Thanks

[novedsac 355]

You can add your wife to the title by signing a quit claim deed. You can do this at closing on the house. It does not matter if her name is on the mortgage or not.

[nitrous_guy 23]

You can add your wife to the title by signing a quit claim deed. You can do this at closing on the house. It does not matter if her name is on the mortgage or not.

Thanks, so if I understand correctly, the mortgage can be under my name, and the title under her name?

Will signing a quitclaim deed, cost me money, or what is the process and how is it done at the closing of the house.

[agrabs 237]

My husband and I bought a house last year and did the same thing. Since he had no credit history and was still waiting on his green card to be approved, it was just easier not to include him on the loan. All we did was tell the mortgage company that we wanted both our names on the title, but only my name on the loan and it wasn't a problem. It didn't cost anything extra and it was all done as the normal part of the paper work at the time of closing. You will both have title or ownership of the house, but she won't have any financial responsibility for it.

[VOL 425]

IF you are using your credit to buy the house then I would not put her name on the house. She will get all the benefits without any of the risk.

[nitrous_guy 23]

IF you are using your credit to buy the house then I would not put her name on the house. She will get all the benefits without any of the risk.

But wont this cause a red flag for ROC?

[agrabs 237]

But wont this cause a red flag for ROC?

That is why I put both of our names on the title.

It is correct that your spouse will assume none of the financial risk but will be an owner. If you think a divorce is likely in the future then not a good idea.

If you have a lot of other strong evidence of financial co-mingling then it wont be a big deal. For us, I knew we would need more evidence and I am confident enough in my relationship with my spouse that it wont' be a problem. My mortgage company was very helpful in discussing all the risks with me.

[d3adc0d3 186]

This is super informative.

Quick related question. I'm the USC and my husband's (non-USC) credit is the one we'll be using, however I am the primary breadwinner. I make around 80-90k a year (I'm a programmer), and he'll likely only be making 20-30k a year (blue collar job). We both want to invest in a multi-family, like a 2 or 3 family home as income property to pay the mortgage while we live in it. My credit was ruined from my divorce 5+ years ago, so is it possible to apply for a mortgage with HIS credit and MY income?

Edited September 26, 2014 by d3adc0d3

[CowBoE 429]

If you don't include her on the mortgage, then I'm not sure you can apply her income

and your income alone may have to be sufficient to qualify the loan.

Good luck.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

But wont this cause a red flag for ROC?

If you are an actual real couple, it would be nearly impossible for you to be deported as a result of ROC. I've been around here a while and I've never seen a case, even when people have little to no evidence of this happening. Worse case scenario you get a Stokes interview, but if you are actually in a relationship this will be no problem.

As per our post-nuptial agreement, my husband's name is not on our house title. This is common enough in my social circle when one party comes to the marriage with alot more assets than the other that I would almost dare USCIS to make an issue out of it.

There is other evidence you can have of living together - mail addressed to both of you, driver's licenses, utilities, or even affidavits. You do really see often enough here that couples are living with their parents or only one person is on the lease or the title and this has never to my knowledge created an issue as long as other evidence was presented.

Edited September 26, 2014 by N-o-l-a

[nitrous_guy 23]

If you are an actual real couple, it would be nearly impossible for you to be deported as a result of ROC. I've been around here a while and I've never seen a case, even when people have little to no evidence of this happening. Worse case scenario you get a Stokes interview, but if you are actually in a relationship this will be no problem.

As per our post-nuptial agreement, my husband's name is not on our house title. This is common enough in my social circle when one party comes to the marriage with alot more assets than the other that I would almost dare USCIS to make an issue out of it.

There is other evidence you can have of living together - mail addressed to both of you, driver's licenses, utilities, or even affidavits. You do really see often enough here that couples are living with their parents or only one person is on the lease or the title and this has never to my knowledge created an issue as long as other evidence was presented.

Thanks for this information, but what I am trying to say is, I am the beneficiary with a 2 year conditional GC.

Usually its the other way around, where the petitioner might now include the beneficiary name on the house together, but I am in a situation where I can get a home loan with my credit score, but I dont want to include her, as her score is bad and it will affect us in the long run.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

Thanks for this information, but what I am trying to say is, I am the beneficiary with a 2 year conditional GC.

Usually its the other way around, where the petitioner might now include the beneficiary name on the house together, but I am in a situation where I can get a home loan with my credit score, but I dont want to include her, as her score is bad and it will affect us in the long run.

Any way you phrase it, it isn't going to matter, as long as you have proof of living together, financial co-mingling, etc. Do you have joint bank accounts? Are you beneficiaries on accounts and life insurance policies? Do you have any cars you could put jointly?

Off topic - but can she work on her score? It is unlucky that you are not the USC, my husband just got a credit report opened 2 months ago with a secured card and was able to partially piggy back off my score and has a 740 now.

[nitrous_guy 23]

Any way you phrase it, it isn't going to matter, as long as you have proof of living together, financial co-mingling, etc. Do you have joint bank accounts? Are you beneficiaries on accounts and life insurance policies? Do you have any cars you could put jointly?

Off topic - but can she work on her score? It is unlucky that you are not the USC, my husband just got a credit report opened 2 months ago with a secured card and was able to partially piggy back off my score and has a 740 now.

She is working on her score, but it is way too low.

By the time her score comes up to 700's, it may be a while.

We have a car in both our names, we both have car insurance together we have joint bank accounts, we both have health insurance together, I have put her as a beneficiary on life insurance through my work, we have pics of travel taken together, we both have mail addressed to us going to our current mailing address, which is the same as our drivers license, we both are beneficiaries on each others 401k and we will both have utility bills under our names, once we buy a house.

[NikLR 13,220]

Her name being on the contracts or the title has no bearing on the loan. They are two separate things.

Yes her name can be on the title but not on the loan. We are doing that currently, even though my husband asks why. Because it's bit me in the butt before and I'm not doing that again. Eventually I will have a better paying job and will be helping with mortgage payments. As stated though, this is not really a ROC issue unless you're really really low on evidence, which it sounds like you're not.

To the other poster: No you cannot use the wife's income when the husband has the good credit (and vice versa) so at that point you have to apply jointly or wait for your credit to improve.

[kzielu 1,144]

I would just like to point out to score credit karma shows has not a lot relevancy. Much more important in case of high loan is a length of credit history...