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Can anyone help me decipher the role of a cosigner in a HARP refinance?
My friend's parents own a two-family home that they wanted to refinance. According to my friend, they didn't qualify for the refinance because they didn't have enough income to qualify so they asked my friend to add her name to the refinancing. She pays them a modest monthly rent to live there, as do her siblings; however, she was the only one who meet the qualifications for HARP. Initially she thought her parents were adding her name to the mortgage and that she would be a co-owner but the person facilitating the refinance explained to her that her parents are the only owners of the house and her info was only needed for qualification purposes. Is this the same as cosigning? There's a language barrier and my friend translated what her parents said as adding her income so they could qualify.
She had questions but got a guilt trip from her parents every time she asked anything. She lives in the house and only had to sign her name to a document or two to help their parents refinance so asking questions (to them) seemed ridiculous. My friend has checked all three of her credit reports since that time and there is no credit inquiry related to the refinancing, nor does the refinancing itself appear on any of her credit reports. How is that possible?
Please pardon my ignorance about this, but is there some other way to help someone qualify for HARP or some other refinancing that is NOT considered cosigning? As I understand it, when the borrowers don't meet the requirements and need another person's info, that person will be on the hook if the borrowers don't pay as promised. Is this incorrect? If this is the case, wouldn't this be on her credit report?
I realize the obvious thing to do is to ask for a copy of what she signed but in her case, it's not the easiest in her particular situation for a number of issues related to her parents. Not gonna get into that but just trying to see if maybe someone has knowledge of a similar situation where someone signs simply for qualification purposes even though their name isn't on the actual mortgage.
I realize the obvious thing to do is to ask for a copy of what she signed but in her case, it's not the easiest in her particular situation for a number of issues related to her parents. Not gonna get into that but just trying to see if maybe someone has knowledge of a similar situation where someone signs simply for qualification purposes even though their name isn't on the actual mortgage.
Forget about the parents. If she signed something, she's entitled to a copy. Contact the title company or attorney or whoever facilitated the refinance.
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