Subject to contracts; declaring interest expense and contacting lender

[John Chapman]

I have never done a ‘subject to’ mortgage but am considering doing one for the first time. I have a couple of questions:

• 1) Is it wise for the borrower to contact the lending institution and change the address and addressee of the mortgage statement to the seller?  Or would that make the lender suspicious and possibly result in the lender discovering that a sale occurred and triggering the due on sale clause?
• 2) What risk is incurred if I deduct the mortgage interest on my Federal Income taxes even though the 1098 mortgage interest statement will be attributed to the seller?