gift letter--questions

[Anonymous]

Per my loan officer, there is no way to get around the gift letter. Something about the Patriot Act....its required...that's all he keeps saying. Its been almost 4 days and no response from my FIL. I am beyond upset at this entire situation. I don't want to lose this house for such a dumb reason. The check he wrote to us has GIFT  written in the memo line. We have a copy of my husband's grandmother's will where she names him as a beneficiary. We have 4x the amount we are putting down on this house in our savings account...documented before this check ever showed up. UGH. The gift letter clearly states that this is a monetary gift used for the down payment of the house.....this is not the money we are using for the down payment....so essentially, the letter he would be signing isn't even true. 

Sorry for the rant.

[DallasLoanGuy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

We have applied for a mortgage and are in the final stages of underwriting. They have all of our bank statements, w2, taxes, etc. We have more than enough money in our savings account for the down payment and closing costs and they have the statements showing this. A week ago, my husband received a check from his father for unexpected inheritance money his grandmother left to him. We deposited the check for 9K in our main checking account. This week, the underwriter has asked for more bank statements and now wants a gift letter from my husbands father regarding the large check. 

Here's where I get confused. I thought you only needed a gift letter if using the money for a down payment/cc fee's. We never planned to use this money for the down payment and can prove that through months of statements showing the funds in our savings account. Why, if we write a check for everything from our savings account, would we need a gift letter for this deposit in an entirely seperate account? 

My husband and father do not get along, and I am worried about his cooperation in this matter. That is why I am asking...I would like to avoid needing to contact him regarding this matter. 

Obviously, we are kicking ourselves now for depositing this check! One more hoop to jump through

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the lender doesnt have to use the 9k

they can back it out of the calculations and consider it non allowable monies.  so if you have 20k in checking. we put down 11k on the application and disallow the 9k. make sense?

no need for a gift letter.  a short note to the underwriter stating that i recently inherited some money would suffice.

HOWEVER, sometimes it is easier to comply than to argue the point even if you are right.  i have learned this the hard way.

[DallasLoanGuy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Per my loan officer, there is no way to get around the gift letter. Something about the Patriot Act....its required...that's all he keeps saying. Its been almost 4 days and no response from my FIL. I am beyond upset at this entire situation. I don't want to lose this house for such a dumb reason. The check he wrote to us has GIFT  written in the memo line. We have a copy of my husband's grandmother's will where she names him as a beneficiary. We have 4x the amount we are putting down on this house in our savings account...documented before this check ever showed up. UGH. The gift letter clearly states that this is a monetary gift used for the down payment of the house.....this is not the money we are using for the down payment....so essentially, the letter he would be signing isn't even true. 

Sorry for the rant.

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i would point out the above fact to your loan officer and ask to speak to a manager.

 mortgage fraud is a a federal crime. 

.

[DallasLoanGuy]

i have a better idea.

tell your lender you are upset and scared. and that you would feel more comfortable calling the cfpb to make sure that what you are doing is not actually mortgage fraud.

i bet they find a work around.

http://www.consumerfinance.gov/

[Lemmus]

^^^^^^+++++++...what Dallas said 1000X over  

[Anonymous]

Loan officer plans to call FIL tomorrow. Maybe he will get a response. We are also sending them a copy of the will showing my husband listed as a beneficiary. He mentioned we need the letter because the inheritance funds were deposited in the same checking account we paid the earnest money out of. 

That check is still with our realtor and will not be cashed until May 15th. I am hoping, perhaps if toss out that check and write a new one from our savings account we will have some leeway as well. 

[StartingOver10]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Loan officer plans to call FIL tomorrow. Maybe he will get a response. We are also sending them a copy of the will showing my husband listed as a beneficiary. He mentioned we need the letter because the inheritance funds were deposited in the same checking account we paid the earnest money out of. 

That check is still with our realtor and will not be cashed until May 15th. I am hoping, perhaps if toss out that check and write a new one from our savings account we will have some leeway as well. 

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How can this happen? We have to have EMDs deposited with the broker within 24 hrs and in the bank within 72 hours max. No post dated checks allowed. I know this is state law for Florida but I have seen similiar requirements across the country.

[DallasLoanGuy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Loan officer plans to call FIL tomorrow. Maybe he will get a response. We are also sending them a copy of the will showing my husband listed as a beneficiary. He mentioned we need the letter because the inheritance funds were deposited in the same checking account we paid the earnest money out of. 

That check is still with our realtor and will not be cashed until May 15th. I am hoping, perhaps if toss out that check and write a new one from our savings account we will have some leeway as well. 

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like i said. should be a legal work around to this if you otherwise have plenty of funds to close. only a problem if these funds are closing funds

the patriot act(anti money laundering) is for funds to close..... it aint none of their damn business if you went to the casino and won $5kon the craps table.

i went round and round with an old employer about this..... got stonewalled by my processor, my underwriter and even my boss. i went over all of their heads and got my deal done because they were all idiots and i was right.

remember..... we dont 'get around' guidelines. that is sneaky. we interpret the guidelines within the LAW and find a solution.

seems like your lender is trying to get around the guidelines because having you(or FIL) sign a fraud doc is easier for them.

bottom line: that check doesnt spoil the whole bushel of apples. just back that bad apple out and proceed.

[frugalQ]

They are being very pushy for things that are not needed for qualification purposes.

No way in the world would I allow my LO to get involved to mediate a personal family issue if it has nothing to do with the loan.

A friend was closing on her house, and her mom gave her $600 as reimbursement for an airplane ticket. The lender told her she needed to provide a copy of her mom's bank statement showing the funds came from her account. She told them that is where she drew the line and refused. The lender just removed the 600 deposit from her bank statement and used the new balance as her funds to close.