Applying for Mortgage with pending I-751

[jgalt 0]

Hi - does anyone have any experience with lenders/applying for a mortgage with a pending I-751 and expired GC? Did they treat you as a permanent resident with just the I-751 receipt?

I am a June 2014 filer and am in that no mans land of waiting for the conditions to be removed and having a one year extension.

Thanks!

[Darnell 8,478]

how do you feel about positively training up the clerk that's handling the mortgage paperwork?

[jgalt 0]

I have no issues with explaining to the lending agent what the I-751 means and how close I am to removing my conditions. However, Im not sure that just providing info the lender is enough as the underwriting process usually has specific documents listed and I havent seen anything related to I-751 yet.

One thing to note is that the mortgage will have me and my wife asa borrower and of course shes a citizen.

Just wanted to see what others experience is in this area.

Thanks!

[Darnell 8,478]

if you can get a printout of your residence status from the SAVE database, that would trump most ignorance from folks at the clerk level.

can get it at [pick 1]

1. online or

2. CBP secondary inspection office or

3. USCIS office or

4. SSA office

the more I think about it, if you'd just go in to a USCIS office and ask for a I-551 stamp in yer passport, that would be sufficient for evidence for most brain-dead clerks at any mortgage office.

[seth2013 39]

Bank of America gave us a really tough time actually, they kept insisting we provide an I-90 even though we explained that we were filing I-751 and the I-90 wasn't the correct form. Was a huge mess and took weeks to resolve because it had to approved by higher-ups. Good luck!

[jgalt 0]

Sorry to hear that you had a hard time seth2013 but glad that you still got approved!

I think what youre saying echos Darnells point of providing infor to the lenders to remove their ignorance. From all Im reading it looks like it really depends on the lender and how they familiar they are with immigrant borrowers.

I did a bit more research and fundamentally, the requirement that most underwriters are trying to confirm is that the borrower/coborrower is a permanent resident, regardless of when the person needs to renew...etc.

The I-751 clearly does the above.

Im collecting some standard operating procedures/guidance from some mortgage companies online to provide my lender (if they hold up the loan):

Example 1: https://www.stmpartners.com/manual/cor/bulletins/cr11-135.pdf

**Clearly states that USCIS I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions of Residence can be used for documentation to prove PR status.

Example 2: http://www.bankersonline.com/tools/aliendocprocedures.pdf

**Clearly states "Conditional Alien Registration Receipt Card (INS Form I-551) accompanied by an unexpired INS Form I-751 (Petition to Rem ove the Conditions of Residency) filing receipt"

Ill also probably get a letter from my laywer to better explain if my lender does not have an SOP in place.

[Darnell 8,478]

hint - can go into local USCIS office,

get new I-551 stamp put INTO THE PASSPORT ...

Then show the stamp to anyone who asks for proof of residency.

Why?

It's an I-551 document, unexpired.

Sure, a greencard is one form of I-551 document - but - there are other types of I-551 document.

[jgalt 0]

Good Point Darnell. Thanks!

[seth2013 39]

Yeah, part of the problem was that my husband's green card was still valid at the time, but would be expiring within 6 months (which is when you're required to file the I-90). Apparently since banks are so heavily regulated they kept citing regulations requiring the I-90, no matter how much info we provided them from USCIS. It was ridiculous.

jgalt, hope you get smarter lenders than we had! Hopefully you are in a big enough city that you can deal face-to-face with a lender, rather than through email and phone calls. Talking to someone face-to-face would have been really helpful.

[Dave&Roza 748]

Banks are very bad at not knowing what they need. Case in point, I was trying to get my MOther;s account moved from her trust to the beneficiary after she died. I was the trusteee as listed in her trust, but they wanted all kinds of documents from the court. I was told was we probate the will you will get X and we need that. I told them that we are not probating the will nor do we need to as everything is spelled out in the trust. I also had to have our lawyer write a letter explaining this to the brain dead bank employees, but I finally found someone at another branch who knew what they were doing. SOunds like you are in the smae situation. They have a script and if your situation does not fall into their script you are SOL.

I would ask them "what would you do if I was a foreign citizen that wanted to borrow money from your bank to buy some property? What docements would you require if ou would lend me the money?" You could do what we did which is only have your wife take out the loan. She will be on the Deed at the time of closing. You can then get a QUIT CLAIM DEED and have her fill it out and sign it in front of a notary and put it in a safe place. This will allow you as the surviving spouse to fill this upon her death and the property becomes yours--cost is the filling fee in your county. Of course the mortgage is another matter and you can ask the bank how they should handle that. BOA was a royal PITA when we wanted to change ownership. We would have had to refiance the mortgage and this was a condo which made it even harder. It was easier to take some money from the inheritance and pay off the mortgage and then change ownership. This is a case where shopping around may pay off. IMHO, I will never do business with BOA for a loan ever again. YMMV.

Good luck,

Dave

[Cathi 5,745]

My husband and I bought a house this year. He had zero issues qualifying or being approved for a mortgage

Edited January 12, 2015 by mimolicious

[Ms Hogan 295]

I have had a hard time with this. Not because of my pending ROC but instead because my green card would expire before the duration of the loan would end. It is an understandable concern but frustrating nonetheless.

[jgalt 0]

I have had a hard time with this. Not because of my pending ROC but instead because my green card would expire before the duration of the loan would end. It is an understandable concern but frustrating nonetheless.

Im really sorry to hear that. Have you tried shopping around lenders or an attorneys letter? 15/30 year fixed mortgages would of course expire before a 10 year GC needs to be renewed. However, the lenders should have clear guidance that a PR is as good as a Citizen.

My husband and I bought a house this year. He had zero issues qualifying or being approved for a mortgage

Nice! Did you use your ROC/I-751 receipt to prove PR status?