Can immigrant spouse own a home legally?

[deanoburke 0]

Question for anyone that may have some experience with this.

My wife and I got a mortgage approximately 1 year ago, while she had been working without a permit. We had filed for her green card and permit about 3 months before we got the mortgage, but to this point she had neither -except a notice of action letter fron uscis.

I qualified for the house by myself, and was supposed to be the only one on the loan. We found out later it is being reported to her credit and in the paperwork she and her income are also guarantor for repayment. She had less than 2 years in her position, and we were told by an attorneys office it was illegal for mortgage company to put her on the docs. The attorneys office thinks we should sue and try to get the house free and clear.

Does this sound right to anyone?

Additional Details

I'm not really concerned with getting the mortgage free and clear, it's more of whether or not she was supposed to legally have even been on the papers. We figured the brokers knew what they were doing as long as we were getting a fixed 30 yr., until we had to look in to a loan mod the other day. That's when they started asking about her immigration status at the time it was written. She entered under a K-1 and was given a written promise to be hired by my company upon legal entry to the U.S.

After we were married we got her ss card with the "for work with DHS auth" on it, and were able to get her a state id card for a few months. The ss number is still her same one today, but the employer never required (or asked rather) to have a work permit. We applied for a cap one credit card and started building her credit knowing somewhere down the road we would get a house. After about a year of her working there we applied for AOS, and received her NOA sometime in March/April. We applied for the mortgage in April/May and signed on May 19. To this point her work history was less than 2 years at the time, and she didn't receive her permit until August.

Again, Employer never asked or indicated for anything else, and we didn't file for adjustment right away. It wasn't until we filed for adjustment that we found out (later) she needed a work permit also, so we applied for that at the same time. We told employer we had it(when we got the permit before the green card) but they didn't care to see it or add it to her work file(almost a year later). We had the letter from uscis saying her green card app is in process at the same time they sent work permit. She got green card and work permit after we had the mortgage.(even though it was all filed before we applied for mortgage) Anyone know if this is legal? I realize we probably missed a few steps here too, but we are trying to stay the right course and are trying to do the right thing.

Thanks :-)

[R de la R 2]

Question for anyone that may have some experience with this.

My wife and I got a mortgage approximately 1 year ago, while she had been working without a permit. We had filed for her green card and permit about 3 months before we got the mortgage, but to this point she had neither -except a notice of action letter fron uscis.

I qualified for the house by myself, and was supposed to be the only one on the loan. We found out later it is being reported to her credit and in the paperwork she and her income are also guarantor for repayment. She had less than 2 years in her position, and we were told by an attorneys office it was illegal for mortgage company to put her on the docs.

Yes, it is illegal to put her name on the mortgage.

The attorneys office thinks we should sue and try to get the house free and clear.

Does this sound right to anyone?

Additional Details

I'm not really concerned with getting the mortgage free and clear, it's more of whether or not she was supposed to legally have even been on the papers. We figured the brokers knew what they were doing as long as we were getting a fixed 30 yr., until we had to look in to a loan mod the other day. That's when they started asking about her immigration status at the time it was written. She entered under a K-1 and was given a written promise to be hired by my company upon legal entry to the U.S.

What you mean a written promise???? from who???

She is suppose to work with a EAD, not with a written promise.

After we were married we got her ss card with the "for work with DHS auth" on it,

Yes, she needs the employment authorization for working not only the SS card.

and were able to get her a state id card for a few months. The ss number is still her same one today, but the employer never required (or asked rather) to have a work permit.

Maybe the employeer is not aware about contracting foreigns.

We applied for a cap one credit card and started building her credit knowing somewhere down the road we would get a house. After about a year of her working there we applied for AOS, and received her NOA sometime in March/April. We applied for the mortgage in April/May and signed on May 19. To this point her work history was less than 2 years at the time, and she didn't receive her permit until August.

Again, Employer never asked or indicated for anything else, and we didn't file for adjustment right away. It wasn't until we filed for adjustment that we found out (later) she needed a work permit also, so we applied for that at the same time. We told employer we had it(when we got the permit before the green card) but they didn't care to see it or add it to her work file(almost a year later). We had the letter from uscis saying her green card app is in process at the same time they sent work permit. She got green card and work permit after we had the mortgage.(even though it was all filed before we applied for mortgage) Anyone know if this is legal? I realize we probably missed a few steps here too, but we are trying to stay the right course and are trying to do the right thing.

Thanks :-)

[Old Dominion 26]

For a real estate mortgage to be legal, it requires the services of an attorney to file it with the court. Track down that lawyer and ask. If the house is jointly owned, as I assume it is, then you had to apply jointly for the mortgage. Depending on your state of residence, I expect the mortgage doesn't need to be changed. INMO, it is not a big deal and perhaps your lawyer needs more income. If you are after a second loan on the same place, just swallow and answer whatever questions arise. This is not exactly a good time to be getting a "yes" answer to home loan applications.

Now that she has her GC, the SSN card can be changed without the condition stamped thereon. As I understand it, her employer should now be given a record of that green card just to make her employment legal and to cover themselves. If for a period of time she was not legally employed, so long as she paid taxes it's probably OK even though temporarily illegal.

Let sleeping dogs lie...if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

[MikenKyhen 0]

Quote:

"My wife and I got a mortgage approximately 1 year ago, while she had been working without a permit. We had filed for her green card and permit about 3 months before we got the mortgage, but to this point she had neither -except a notice of action letter fron uscis.

I qualified for the house by myself, and was supposed to be the only one on the loan. We found out later it is being reported to her credit and in the paperwork she and her income are also guarantor for repayment. She had less than 2 years in her position, and we were told by an attorneys office it was illegal for mortgage company to put her on the docs. The attorneys office thinks we should sue and try to get the house free and clear.

Does this sound right to anyone?"

So let me make sure I understand this. You qualified for the loan by yourself. I am assuming that when you applied for the loan you and your wife both signed the application. Is that right? That's the only way that they would have inquired about your wifes credit history or lack thereof. I am not an attorney but unless your attorney is willing to take this case based on the premise that they would be payed if you happened to win you'd better have some deep pockets because I can guarantee you that the bank or lending company you received the loan thru certainly does and will fight this to the ends of the earth. Who knows. You may have a solid case even though thats not your primary concern here. There are some VJ members that are attorneys and can probably help to shed a little more light on your situation and whether you genuinely have a valid case. I wish you the best of luck.

[payxibka 10,047]

Can an immigrant legally own a home? Yes. To the best of my knowledge a non-resident as well as resident alien can in fact own property in the US.

Can an immigrant be placed on a mortgage? maybe yes, maybe no.... Depends on the lender. FHA/VA may have rules against it or they may not. If using a conventional lender they may accept the alien or they may reject the alien. I doubt there is a specific law but individual lenders may have there own underwriting criteria that govern this situation

[MikenKyhen 0]

Can an immigrant legally own a home? Yes. To the best of my knowledge a non-resident as well as resident alien can in fact own property in the US.

Can an immigrant be placed on a mortgage? maybe yes, maybe no.... Depends on the lender. FHA/VA may have rules against it or they may not. If using a conventional lender they may accept the alien or they may reject the alien. I doubt there is a specific law but individual lenders may have there own underwriting criteria that govern this situation

Exactly! Those are the kinds of obstacles that you would come up against facing the lender in court.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

His wife is probably not on the loan, but she is listed on the deed of the house. These are two different things, it is not uncommon for a loan to be in one name only, but the deed is listed in both the husband and wifes name.

[Otto 83]

I qualified for the house by myself, and was supposed to be the only one on the loan. We found out later it is being reported to her credit and in the paperwork she and her income are also guarantor for repayment. She had less than 2 years in her position, and we were told by an attorneys office it was illegal for mortgage company to put her on the docs. The attorneys office thinks we should sue and try to get the house free and clear.

Does this sound right to anyone?

Good luck with that... and how exactly have you been 'damaged' by her being on the loan? (if indeed she's on the loan and not the deed.)

[desert_fox 32]

Many Canadians own condos in Florida and Arizona where they come every year to escape the winter. If a lender knows that you are married, they will want both names names on the title and the loan so they can come after either one of you if the loan is not paid.

The state could care less if you are legallly here or not...and LPR or a ciotizen.

[deanoburke 0]

Hi everybody, thanks for the suggestions!

Someone asked if I'm "damaged" by this? or "let sleeping dogs lie" of course not-actually like I said we were looking in to a loan mod the other day, and the conversation off the cuff came up about her immigration status at the time the loan was written. That's when the attorney stated they had taken on some cases where immigrants had been taken by predatory lending, and would be willing to look in to this further.

She told us that a lot of times the lenders don't totally know how to properly put them on docs, during the immigration process. Meaning a foreign national can buy property, but a k-1 fiance can't until after a certain point in the processing of their AOS. She said they should not have put her on the loan at all-maybe the title only, but not the loan because she wasn't far enough along and basically "in limbo."

We told her we would rather think about it for a while and get back to her, that's why we are here asking all of you!

[Old Dominion 26]

I'd just go ahead with the loan mod and not be concerned about an event from the past. I take it that you are not the victim of predatory lending anyway, and if you are, it's not because of adding your wife to the loan.

[payxibka 10,047]

She told us that a lot of times the lenders don't totally know how to properly put them on docs, during the immigration process. Meaning a foreign national can buy property, but a k-1 fiance can't until after a certain point in the processing of their AOS. She said they should not have put her on the loan at all-maybe the title only, but not the loan because she wasn't far enough along and basically "in limbo."

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security a foreign national is defined simply as, "An individual who is a citizen of any country other than the United States."

Your K-1 fiance(e) is a foreign national and will always be a foreign national until such time as she decides to become a US citizen... There is no "limbo" with a K-1 as the attorney seems to have indicated as it relates to this.

[bayojona3231 4]

I'd just go ahead with the loan mod and not be concerned about an event from the past. I take it that you are not the victim of predatory lending anyway, and if you are, it's not because of adding your wife to the loan.

I agree with you 100%. He should just do the loan modification and move on. There are so many scams in the loan modification business.

[bayojona3231 4]

I'd just go ahead with the loan mod and not be concerned about an event from the past. I take it that you are not the victim of predatory lending anyway, and if you are, it's not because of adding your wife to the loan.

I agree with you. There are so may scammers in the loan modification business. Everyone needs to be very careful with all these crooks. Just do your loan modifications with a reputable company and move on. Good luck.

[meauxna 15]

She told us that a lot of times the lenders don't totally know how to properly put them on docs, during the immigration process. Meaning a foreign national can buy property, but a k-1 fiance can't until after a certain point in the processing of their AOS. She said they should not have put her on the loan at all-maybe the title only, but not the loan because she wasn't far enough along and basically "in limbo."

What I think you should be concerned about is what does the mortgage paperwork say about your wife's immigration status?

If the broker wrote that your wife was an LPR, and then your wife signed it.. or worse, said she was a citizen, that could be a problem. Whether or not it invalidates your loan I don't know, but there can be immigration consequences for your wife if she signed something false.

She is legally allowed to own real estate (deed), she is legally allowed to have a mortgage.

I qualified for the house by myself, and was supposed to be the only one on the loan. We found out later it is being reported to her credit and in the paperwork she and her income are also guarantor for repayment.

Did you both sign the loan documents? You remember, the 4" tall stack of papers? If you don't remember, get your copy out and have a shuffle through. It's hard to believe you could get a mortgage and not know if you are both on it or not.

She had less than 2 years in her position, and we were told by an attorneys office it was illegal for mortgage company to put her on the docs. The attorneys office thinks we should sue and try to get the house free and clear.

That just isn't specific enough to know if it's right or not. Why was it illegal for her to be on the docs? In what way was this predatory lending?