Advice needed - adding someone to deed/loan (Howe: insurance, refinance)

[bluelion_ms3]

so he pays half of your mortgage AND you're trying to not pay property taxes??? wow. why not just pay the whole mortgage yourself, and let your in-law pay the property taxes.

[CorJan]

Originally Posted by bluelion_ms3

so he pays half of your mortgage AND you're trying to not pay property taxes??? wow. why not just pay the whole mortgage yourself, and let your in-law pay the property taxes.

Because under the law, the father-in-law does not have a property tax burden, according to the OP. So, why on earth would he pay property tax when he doesn't owe it?

Obama can't even convince Warren Buffett to pay more tax than he owes.

[bluelion_ms3]

well, i wasn't talking about technically owing the property tax....cause technically, the inlaw doesn't own the property, he's basically paying rent. all i was saying was, instead of making the inlaw pay half the mortgage AND not paying property taxes.....why doesn't the OP pay the whole entire mortgage himself, and just let the inlaw pay the property tax amount yearly.....OR, calculate the yearly mortgage amount plus taxes and divide that evenly....

what's going to happen if the in-laws decide to move out. the OP will have to go through the trouble of taking his name back off the loan/deed.

[CorJan]

Originally Posted by bluelion_ms3

well, i wasn't talking about technically owing the property tax....cause technically, the inlaw doesn't own the property, he's basically paying rent.

Which is the entire point of this discussion. trele6 is trying to obtain guidance on the process of making his father-in-law an owner of the property.

[crone]

As crooked as the tax policy in Texas is, any port in the storm. If my momma lived with me and shared in the expenses of running the household, I'd put her name on the deed in a NY minute. My neighbor down the street did. The tax savings was substantial.

The way we pay for services in Texas is criminal. I can't remember how many school districts are currently involved in suing the state over the unfairness in school funding. For years the lege knew the way they provided for school funding had been struck down by the courts, but they did it anyway.

Some years ago the Chronicle ran the property taxes paid by some elected people in Harris county. I was stunned to see what a rep close to me paid on her property.

This past year the values in my small 88 houses subdivision declined by an average of 47,000 dollars per house. Our value, which was already on par with the rest went down 2900. We protested. I did no good. The house across the street sold for 295 last August. They added a pool. Their HCAD market value went down to $257,000 in March. Go figure. Good luck on adding your parents to the deed.

[cheryjohns]

Getting them on the deed, through a title company, is easy and inexpensive. As to the taxes, contact your tax appraisal office (I don't know whether you are Harris, Fort Bend, etc.) and ask them for details. I am always amazed at the info they will give over the phone.

[LizzySWW]

I think the honest way to do it is to reduce the tax bill by the dependent occupants for each owner.

If the OP has a wife & 3 kids, his bill counts for 5 people. He should pay that amount. If Grandpa has a wife, his share is 2 people. But since Grandpa doesn't have to pay taxes, the OP pays for 5/7 of the original bill.

Wouldn't KISD & Harris County want the non-vet owner to pay his share?

I'm sure the OP isn't trying to figure out a way so he doesn't have to pay taxes for services he & his family use.

**About the living arrangement - I live in an HOA subdivision & something interesting happened here last month. Our HOA is coming down on households where more than parents & their children live in a home. It started when a house sold to a family who moved from another country. A few weeks after they moved in, Grandma & Grandpa joined......then came the sister in law & her kid. Since it's a single family neighborhood, the HOA found a legal way to force them to move out the extra family members. My point is that your HOA may not allow more than one single family to live in your home & they might be able to make your wife's parents move if a neighbor or someone tells the HOA.

[trele6]

If you would read my earlier post I am not trying to reduce my tax liability, just his share. We pay taxes on the whole home currently, but he "owns" half, I want to get his ownership reflected on our title/deed so that he will not have to pay taxes on his portion.

[Glossa]

It seems like that would make tax time confusing. Would you then get all of the mortgage interest deduction? I would be surprised if something like you described was legal. Seems these days the government wants every possible penny they can yank from us.

[chris_ut]

If your mortgage company finds out you conveyed a half ownership in your property that is secured by their lien to a 3rd party then you will be in violation of your loan covenants and they can call in your loan at which point you would need to refinance or go into foreclosure.