Let me preface this questions with this fact: I am in no way trying to do something illegal or scam anything, just trying to see if we are able to take advantage of the new 8000 credit.

Ok, so I purchased a home in June 2007 by myself, only me on the title, deed, mortgage,etc. I have a fiancée who has never purchased a home and we are trying to figure out if the home goes into her name if she would be able to claim the credit.

(Note: we are not planning on getting married for awhile and therefore would continue to file separate and not be legally joined in anyway)


The part that we are unsure of is that fact that since I am the one who the mortgage is through, I know I would have to "sell" it to her, but would she need to take out a mortgage of her own (in her name only) to complete the "sale", or is their a way of putting her on the title, deed, etc and the current mortgage with a refinance or what not.

We want to take advantage of the low rates now, so refinancing would not be an issue as well as putting her name on title, deed together with mine, or by herself. What we do NOT want to do is to have to put another 20% down from her to complete a brand new mortgage to complete the "sale".

I know that my ramblings might be a bit confusing, but I would appreciate any help, advice or feedback you can provide.

Thank you!

I think it may qualify for her if she were to buy the house from you. If she is just having her name added to the deed, that is not a sale and therefor would not qualify. I believe if your name would remain on the deed, it would violate the spirit of the law, if not the letter.

That's just my common sense. Hopefully one of the experts will weigh in here.

Just adding her to the title will not do anything. I also do not see how this could be done with her not being on the actual mortgage. The lender is not going to want to have issues if you don't pay the debt.

In regards to her buying the home, you would have to sell it to her outright with all of the normal fees and such.

With you only having the house since 2007, I am not too sure you would have much equity and might be upside down in the house. In the end you need to figure out how much it is worth to you. You would have to subtract out her down payment and all the closing costs.

She will have to get a completely new mortgage and actually buy the home from you.

Warning: This could constitute mortgage fraud if the relationship is not disclosed.

Even if it was disclosed, the savings would be small. By the time you paid closing costs, a down payment, and (as someone else said) maybe your mortgage off since you might be upside down in it, you are going to walk with $500. Not worth it In my opinion.