Is this type of partnership legal?

[Ewan Tong]

Hi everyone! I am an international investor new to the US market. Every year, I stay in the US on business visa for a couple of months and scout for multifamily properties, mostly in Chicago, NYC and Boston areas. I feel that I am currently in a dilemma: on one hand, it is very difficult for me to find home mortgage loans as an international buyer (I do not have SSN); on the other hand, even if some mortgage companies will provide loan for me, they ask for 50% down for multifamily properties. Without the an adequate leverage of the bank loan, the return on investment in real estate will be too low. 

In this context, I am contemplating forming partnership with American citizens with good credit scores so that we can buy multifamily properties together with only 20% down payment. But I am not sure if the following scenario is a legal practice in the US:

This American partner and I form an LLC and make an offer for a $2M multifamily property together. By using his/her excellent credit score and tax records, my partner will be responsible to find a bank that could finance 80% of the purchase (namely $1.6M). We will have a 50-50 split of the share of the LLC and we will pay $400K together as down payment.

However, as a bonus for my partner who used his/her credit for the loan, I will pay 60% of the down payment ($400K x 60% = $240K) but only claim 50% of the shares (equity) of the LLC. On the other hand, my partner will only pay 40% of the down payment, namely $160K, but he is entitled to 50% of the equity.

I am wondering what is the legal implications of this arrangement? Is it legal in the first place? If it is legal, is it risky to do so? What terms and conditions should I add to our contact to protect the interest of both parties?

Thank you for your advice, BP'ers!