Gift Funds Question (mortgage, mortgage, sale, banks)
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I have a question about gift money. My husband and I are giving our niece some money as a gift to help her buy her house. We signed a letter saying that the money was a gift but now her lender is asking us for a statement for our checking account.
Has anyone ever heard of a lender asking for a statement from the person gifting someone money?
Okay my question back to you is wouldn't the check clearing into my niece's account prove I had the money? And how is a statement going to prove that I have the money to give her? I could wait until the day after the statement rolls out and close the account. Our I could have given her a cashier's check from cash that I had on hand or even have given her cash outright.
They want to know where the money came from. It's a fraud thing. For all they know 10 people pooled money together to give to her. They want verification that you and you alone gifted her the money.
I'll counter a question to you. How will a month statement prove that? We could have pooled our money when my niece originally talked about wanting a home. One statement doesn't prove anything other how much money my husband and I have. That has no bearing on her mortgage.
It's a shame since I don't feel comfortable with strangers who have no reason knowing if I have a penny or a billion dollars in my account. We are thinking about withdrawing our gift.
It's not my policy, nor is countering their policy going to change it. It's the banks job to verify all sources of funds used for the transaction. All lenders will ask for verification of funds from you. If you are uncomfortable sharing it with them, then you need to back out quickly. I'm not sure if there is an offer on the table, but if there is don't string the sellers along. Let them get their house back on the market quickly.
It's not my policy, nor is countering their policy going to change it. It's the banks job to verify all sources of funds used for the transaction. All lenders will ask for verification of funds from you. If you are uncomfortable sharing it with them, then you need to back out quickly. I'm not sure if there is an offer on the table, but if there is don't string the sellers along. Let them get their house back on the market quickly.
The point I'm making is that a statement proves none of the reason's it was requested for.
That is like asking for proof that I owned a orchard after I've already given her apples. What point does it have? None, she has the apples.
The point I'm making is that a statement proves none of the reason's it was requested for.
That is like asking for proof that I owned a orchard after I've already given her apples. What point does it have? None, she has the apples.
I get your point, but it doesn't matter. It's what the bank requires to feel comfortable that they have verified the funds. They are the ones lending her the money so they get to set the rules about how that happens. This is one of their rules. If your niece wants money from them, then she has to follow their rules.
As a side note, when did "gift" become a verb? People use it like that all the time, and I've never known why. Anyway.
The bank is being a little silly, in my opinion. Technically, the niece didn't need to disclose who gave her the money. It could have been her savings, as far as the bank is concerned. Once you gave it to her (or "gifted" it, for some of you), the money was hers, and your bank account information is irrelevant. Nonetheless, to get a loan you have to play along with the bank sometimes, and this is one of those times. Something the bank wants to watch out for is when the buyer doesn't really have the downpayment at the time of closing, but is getting it from the seller. For example, if the seller is selling the house for $100,000, but agrees to list the sale price as $110,000 and give $10,000 back to the buyer to use for a downpayment, that's a no-no. As in a mortgage fraud no-no. Banks verify the source of funds to make sure things like that don't happen. But in my opinion, it's overreaching to ask for account info from the source of a gift.
From re-reading these posts it sounds like the bank thinks you still have the money, because she must have listed you as the source of the funds. If they pull your account info and find nothing, (or not enough to cover that amount) that might mess things up. Your niece should try to clarify this with the lender to make sure they understand she already has the money.
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