How long does $ need to be in the account before I don't need to prove where it came from?

[Anonymous]

My husband is applying for an FHA mortgage, I will not be on the loan or title. MY Uncle is giving me a sizable amount of $, above and beyond our down payment to pay off our cars, student loans, ect. 

We were told to provide, upon application 2 months of bank statements.  If that $ was in there prior to that 2 months worth of bank statements, will we need to do the whole gift letter thing?  My uncle won't write a gift letter simply because he's not gifting MY husband the $ he says.  He's giving it to me and I am not, nor is my credit, income, ect associated with the loan, ect. 

Are there any simple ways around this?

[Anonymous]

The simple way to do it would be for you to have your won account and deposit your uncle's money in it. Then you could do a "gift" and you could sign the gift letter.  They may still want to see bank statements, but 2 should be fine I would think and they probably will not ask.

Also, I would pay off the debt right away so there was less of a big balance to explain.  Also, a the process will be alot smoother (and FICO's higher) if the debt is paid off.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for responding.....I was wondering about that.... we'll need to apply in about 60 days to ensure our home is built before NOV 30th, ensuring the tax credit.  So, we're kinda down to crunch time on the getting the money *seasoned*.

Regarding the car loans, they are all current and never late, and so *helping* ( I assume ) his credit.  He has a mess a couple years back, so we're keeping all the current GOOD accounts so they outshine the PAID, however negative accounts.  We don't need the cars to go away to qualify for the loan, we were just paying it off after to make our new house payment more comfortable. 

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Pay down any and all CC's to under 9%.

Put the money into your account.

gift the money to your husband.

That should cover it all...

[Anonymous]

Also, you have plenty of time to seaon funds.  They don't need the proof until final underwriting usually, not at pre-approval time.

[Anonymous]

We only have one CC and it's at about 11% utilization- yay!

SO- really, when it comes to it, *I* can gift him the funds? Perfect!  When does FINAL underwriting happen?  We'll need loan approval (per builder) in about 75 days, however we wouldn't be closing until October.  Is final underwriting just prior to the loan being funded/closing?

Thank you SOOO much for your help

[Anonymous]

I should qualify...I THINK you can gift him the funds.  I would check with the LO.  If you are not on the loan, you should be able to i think...

[txbradybunch]

Wouldn't that depend upon the state that you live in?  In a community property state if you are married 50% of what's yours is his and 50% of what's his is yours..... unless you could prove that the "asset" was owned prior to the marriage or that it was one of the things (like inheritance or other type of settlement) that are not subject to community property division.

[Anonymous]

If that $ was in there prior to that 2 months worth of bank statements, will we need to do the whole gift letter thing?

Simple answer is no. As long as you have two months worth of bank statements that don't show any large deposits, you should be okay. I would get the money in there now, and by the time you need to do actual loan approval it ought to be fine.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all!  It will be deposited next week and we won't even close until October/November, so we'll certainly be good and avoid the *paper trail*!