Question to all lenders regarding a home equity loan

[Anthony Pollachioli]

My girlfriend and I are rehabbing a house and we have work set to begin in the near future. We are in talks with a lender and plan on taking out a home equity loan soon on the house we are rehabbing to finance the rehab. 

This question is regarding a separate house, and a separate home equity loan. My girlfriend and her mothers names are both on the deed for this other property. Her Mom currently lives there, but the house was given to my girlfriend by her late Father. Her mom is listed as "lifetime estate tenant" on the deed. 

Her Mom is attempting to take out a home equity loan on this property to consolidate credit card debt. My girlfriend is against this idea for many reasons, but most importantly because we believe it will jeopardize our DTI for the home equity loan (which we will both sign on) for the house rehab. This obviously puts us in a tight spot as we have work scheduled to start soon and need the loan to finance the rehab.

My question for lenders is, can her Mom take out a home equity loan on the inherited property of which she is listed as a lifetime estate tenant without the consent of my girlfriend (co-owner)? Just today a hard inquiry from the bank popped up on her credit report from CK. My girlfriend has signed nothing and gave no consent to have her credit run. We asked her Mom about it and she admits that she applied for the loan but denies having given my girlfriends SS# or info to the bank. We have not applied for any other loans and are not sure why this hard credit check has appeared on her report.

We need to stop this loan from occurring. What right does a co-owner (or lifetime estate tenant) have to the equity of a home? Does taking a home equity loan require consent from all owners on the deed? This is in Virginia.

[Anthony Pollachioli]

Quote from @Ned Carey:

@Anthony Pollachioli THis is not a lender question, this is a legal question for a lawyer. I am not a lawyer but generally the life tenant cannot sell or borrow against a life estate without the remainderman's permision. Check with an attorney. 

I would also check with the credit reporting agencies to see exactly who pulled the credit report and I would speak to the lender to see what  your mom put on the application.

 The crediting reporting agency is showing a credit pull by the same bank that her Mom is attempting to get a home equity loan through. It's pretty clear cut that the credit pull came from her application. She is adamant she didn't give the lender my girlfriends SS# or any other info, so someone has obviously overstepped the line somewhere. This is a local bank in a rural area and my girlfriend and I have our mortgage on our home through this bank, but I really am not sure how they would have pulled my girlfriends information for a credit check if her Mom did not provide the info.

We will be calling first thing Monday morning when banks open, but our major concern is whether she is able to sign for the loan (should it be approved) without my girlfriends approval, since she is also listed on the deed.