Rental Agreement For ROC

[madj22 7]

Hi,

 

I am about to send in my greencard and have a question regarding rental agreements. My husband and I have a unique renting agreement with his grandmother. She owns a condo which we currently live in and gives us very cheap rent. When we did the first first greencard (the 2 year one) we just made up a rental agreement. But this year I know they had to put a different amount on their taxes then what they are actually charging us so that they wouldn't be penalized in their taxes, therefore this time we can't just make up a rental agreement that could get them into trouble. It's a pretty lax rental situation and with corona they haven't even been charging us to give us a break after we both lost work. 

 

Should we make up a fake agreement for 2021? Should we just include the old rental agreement we used last time? Is it pretty important to have your rental agreement? Or should we just forget it?

 

We have lots of stuff to show we are married, so it's not like we're sparse. We have joint tax statements, joint business license, bills, health insurance, car insurance, house insurance, etc. 

[Sukie 1,474]

Get your lovely grandmother to do an affidavit explaining the fact that she owns the condo, and that you pay her rent directly.  There is no reason to have to mention how MUCH rent you do or do not pay her - the important thing is that she lets you rent directly from her.  No need to send in an "agreement" if she does an affidavit.

 

The important thing to show is that the two of you live together.

 

Best of luck!

 

Sukie in NY

[madj22 7]

2 minutes ago, Sukie said:

Get your lovely grandmother to do an affidavit explaining the fact that she owns the condo, and that you pay her rent directly.  There is no reason to have to mention how MUCH rent you do or do not pay her - the important thing is that she lets you rent directly from her.  No need to send in an "agreement" if she does an affidavit.

 

The important thing to show is that the two of you live together.

 

Best of luck!

 

Sukie in NY

You're the best! You helped me on my other forum that I put up which was SO helpful! Should I just look up affidavit templates online since I am not sure what they entail?

[madj22 7]

8 minutes ago, Sukie said:

Get your lovely grandmother to do an affidavit explaining the fact that she owns the condo, and that you pay her rent directly.  There is no reason to have to mention how MUCH rent you do or do not pay her - the important thing is that she lets you rent directly from her.  No need to send in an "agreement" if she does an affidavit.

 

The important thing to show is that the two of you live together.

 

Best of luck!

 

Sukie in NY

I was thinking something like this:

 

 

 

LANDLORD AFFIDAVIT OF RESIDENCE

 

 

Landlord’s Name _________________

Street Address _________________

City, State _________________

Zip _________________

 

Date _________________

 

To Whom This May Concern,

 

I, _________________, the landlord of _________________ formally acknowledge that he/she resides at the street address of _________________, City of _________________, State of _________________ since _________________, 20____ as my tenant.

 

Furthermore, I swear and affirm under penalty of perjury that the facts set forth in this statement are true and accurate.

 

Sincerely,

 

_____________________

[Dutchster 1,107]

When my husband and I filed for ROC beginning of 2019, we lived in his grandparents house, paid the bills + rent, etc. We basically created an affidavit of residence where his grandfather (owner of the house) explained living situation, and how he collects rent + bill money. There were no issues, never received an RFE. 

When we went in for our ROC interview last month, we already had moved into our own place in another town. When she asked if I wanted to update anything from our package, I told her I had our lease agreement from our current apartment. No issues, we were approved within an hour with no questions asked. I hope this helps

Edited December 7, 2020 by Dutchster

[madj22 7]

5 minutes ago, Dutchster said:

When my husband and I filed for ROC beginning of 2019, we lived in his grandparents house, paid the bills + rent, etc. We basically created an affidavit of residence where his grandfather (owner of the house) explained living situation, and how he collects rent + bill money. There were no issues, never received an RFE. 

When we went in for our ROC interview last month, we already had moved into our own place in another town. When she asked if I wanted to update anything from our package, I told her I had our lease agreement from our current apartment. No issues, we were approved within an hour with no questions asked. I hope this helps

Thank you, this was extremely helpful. Was your affidavit more robust than this or was it similar? Thinking of using this one.

 

 

 

LANDLORD AFFIDAVIT OF RESIDENCE

 

 

Landlord’s Name _________________

Street Address _________________

City, State _________________

Zip _________________

 

Date _________________

 

To Whom This May Concern,

 

I, _________________, the landlord of _________________ formally acknowledge that he/she resides at the street address of _________________, City of _________________, State of _________________ since _________________, 20____ as my tenant.

 

Furthermore, I swear and affirm under penalty of perjury that the facts set forth in this statement are true and accurate.

 

Sincerely,

 

_____________________

[Sukie 1,474]

13 hours ago, madj22 said:

Thank you, this was extremely helpful. Was your affidavit more robust than this or was it similar? Thinking of using this one.

 

 

 

LANDLORD AFFIDAVIT OF RESIDENCE

 

 

Landlord’s Name _________________

Street Address _________________

City, State _________________

Zip _________________

 

Date _________________

 

To Whom This May Concern,

 

I, _________________, the landlord of _________________ formally acknowledge that he/she resides at the street address of _________________, City of _________________, State of _________________ since _________________, 20____ as my tenant.

 

Furthermore, I swear and affirm under penalty of perjury that the facts set forth in this statement are true and accurate.

 

Sincerely,

 

_____________________

Your grandmother should make it personal!  As in this for the first paragraph:

 

I, <grandmother's name> am <spouse's name> maternal/paternal grandmother.  I own the property at <address> and I rent it to my grandson <spouse's name> and his wife <your name>.  They began living at this property on <date> and I am happy to let them rent the premises as long as they wish.

 

Please double-check what info is needed from the grandmother for an official affidavit.  I think it needs her birthdate and place.

 

A family connection makes your relationship that much stronger!

 

Sukie in NY

 

 

[madj22 7]

6 hours ago, Sukie said:

Your grandmother should make it personal!  As in this for the first paragraph:

 

I, <grandmother's name> am <spouse's name> maternal/paternal grandmother.  I own the property at <address> and I rent it to my grandson <spouse's name> and his wife <your name>.  They began living at this property on <date> and I am happy to let them rent the premises as long as they wish.

 

Please double-check what info is needed from the grandmother for an official affidavit.  I think it needs her birthdate and place.

 

A family connection makes your relationship that much stronger!

 

Sukie in NY

 

 

Do you think it needs to be sworn or just a regular affidavit? Thanks again!

[Sukie 1,474]

45 minutes ago, madj22 said:

Do you think it needs to be sworn or just a regular affidavit? Thanks again!

I am not quite sure what you are asking.  Affidavits are always "sworn".  There must be that line about "I swear and affirm" - so that is the "sworn" part.

 

I think you are asking whether or not you need to have the affidavit notarized.  The answer is "no".  It is not necessary.

 

Sukie in NY

[Dutchster 1,107]

We just did a regular affidavit, nothing much, no notarization. It was about the same as what you showed. I don't remember which one we exactly added but it was somewhere among the lines of "I, ___, formally acknowledge that -name- and -name- have been residing in my house from -date- to present" and then my husband and I added an affidavit of residence that said something among the lines of "This affidavit is to formally confirm our residence and that name and name have been living..."

Edited December 8, 2020 by Dutchster

[madj22 7]

3 hours ago, Sukie said:

I am not quite sure what you are asking.  Affidavits are always "sworn".  There must be that line about "I swear and affirm" - so that is the "sworn" part.

 

I think you are asking whether or not you need to have the affidavit notarized.  The answer is "no".  It is not necessary.

 

Sukie in NY

Hi,

 

Thank you for your advice. I went ahead and got one notarized today. 

 

As for the check that needs to be made out to the dept of homeland security- I just read their online form on how to write a check and they say "Your address and phone number must be pre-printed, typed, or written in ink." and my checks I got from chase bank only have my address. Do you know anything about this? Should I write my phone number on the check? It does say written in ink. It just seems odd to me. And should it be my husband (the spouse) or me (the petitioner) who signs the check. It's a joint account with both of our names printed on the check so I don't think it matters who signs but I don't know if they have a preference. Thanks for all your help Sukie, it means the world.

[Sukie 1,474]

19 minutes ago, madj22 said:

Hi,

 

Thank you for your advice. I went ahead and got one notarized today. 

 

As for the check that needs to be made out to the dept of homeland security- I just read their online form on how to write a check and they say "Your address and phone number must be pre-printed, typed, or written in ink." and my checks I got from chase bank only have my address. Do you know anything about this? Should I write my phone number on the check? It does say written in ink. It just seems odd to me. And should it be my husband (the spouse) or me (the petitioner) who signs the check. It's a joint account with both of our names printed on the check so I don't think it matters who signs but I don't know if they have a preference. Thanks for all your help Sukie, it means the world.

The reason for the "Address and phone" pre-printed is so that the check is not fraudulent.  As you might remember, when you first open an account, you get a small set of blank checks until your "real" checks come about 10 days later.  USCIS (and most merchants) don't like those blank checks, as it is too easy for them to be stolen or used fraudulently.

 

So just write your phone number on the check in ink.  Either of you can sign the check.  USCIS really does not give a hoot about anything except that they get their money.

 

You are almost there!

 

Sukie in NY

[madj22 7]

21 hours ago, Sukie said:

The reason for the "Address and phone" pre-printed is so that the check is not fraudulent.  As you might remember, when you first open an account, you get a small set of blank checks until your "real" checks come about 10 days later.  USCIS (and most merchants) don't like those blank checks, as it is too easy for them to be stolen or used fraudulently.

 

So just write your phone number on the check in ink.  Either of you can sign the check.  USCIS really does not give a hoot about anything except that they get their money.

 

You are almost there!

 

Sukie in NY

Perfect- I have everything written up and in it's correct order and am about to go send it off. My last question is that you said in another topic I created that if I did x,y, and z, it would be a great way to m ake sure I get my original docs back. My questions is that I have no original docs, other than the notarized landlord affidavit which I also have a photocopy of. It said to use photocopies unless otherwise specified. I have photocopies/print outs of my 2 year greencard, landlord affidavit of residence, marriage certificate, 1095-B health coverage forms, full and complete tax returns, business licenses, joint bank accounts, health insurance, car insurance, bills, etc. Should any of these be hard copy originals?