Deed to the house

[vanee 13]

My husband (the USC) and I bought a house together a few months after AOS, so we're including evidence of joint home ownership with our ROC package. This is the first home that either of us has purchased. We have a thick package of papers that we went through and signed when we bought the house, but I don't think any one of them is the deed.

Can we send in some of the papers from that package that have both of our names on them, or do we need to go to the city clerk's office and get an official paper that is the deed? Join home ownership is the strongest piece of evidence showing co-mingling of assets, so I want to get this one right.

Thanks for your help!

[Nimaan 27]

The HUD1 (settlement statement) should be fine.

[markb 2]

In our case, the deed (formally titled "Grant Deed", but I'm not sure if it's the same everywhere), was not part of the package we signed at closing. It was something the seller signed, and the closing agent took it to the county recorder to be recorded. The county recorder then mailed it to us with a sticker attached confirming that it had been recorded. So we received it after close, but I can't remember how long it took. If it wasn't mailed to you, and you really want it, you can probably order a copy from your county recorder. But I agree with the above poster. If you have other documentation of joint ownership, like the HUD-1, that's probably good enough. Mortgage statements are also good, if they have both names.

[Matt & Bing 56]

  On 5/2/2011 at 2:14 PM, vanee said:

My husband (the USC) and I bought a house together a few months after AOS, so we're including evidence of joint home ownership with our ROC package. This is the first home that either of us has purchased. We have a thick package of papers that we went through and signed when we bought the house, but I don't think any one of them is the deed.

Can we send in some of the papers from that package that have both of our names on them, or do we need to go to the city clerk's office and get an official paper that is the deed? Join home ownership is the strongest piece of evidence showing co-mingling of assets, so I want to get this one right.

Thanks for your help!

Regardless of filing for removal of conditions, you should have a copy of your deed. The original should have been sent to the city or county clerk's office for recording and then the original should have been sent back to you for safe keeping.

[vanee 13]

Thanks, everyone.

The house was a foreclosure, if that makes any difference. I didn't see anything called "HUD1" or "Deed Grant," so I called the city clerk's office. She said the the deed was filed about 4 months after we bought the house and that she could print out the 3-page deed for $3. So, I got the deed from the city clerk's office.

It turned out to be pages that we already had, just with various stamps on them:

• Warranty Deed
  
• A statement by a public notary that the realtor (in a different state) "acknowledged the due execution of the foregoing instrument"
  
• Legal Description
  

Since none of those pages have our signatures on them, I'm also including the "Assessments/Taxes Hold Harmless Letter" and the "Closing Agreement," both of which have both of our signatures. We also have property tax bills and letters from the IRS about the first-time homeowners tax credit. Together, I hope that's enough.

We're mailing the package today. Thanks again for your help.