All Forum Posts by: Bill Hamilton

Check your state/local laws on this. They vary dramatically from one place to another.

Submit the deal to a HM commercial lender/JV Partner that does this stuff day in and day out. See what documentation they require for approval. This will give you a good guideline for what you should be concerned about.

I would bet it is a scam. Possibly laundering money (as said above) or maybe the bills are fake. I am assuming this was actually cash rather than a cashiers check etc. I would call the bank first thing and ask them to examine the bills. I would also tell them the money was safely deposited in a bank as per normal procedure and that you don't keep that type of cash on hand. Let them know that as soon as the bank examines the currency and confirms the deposit is valid you will be more than happy to refund their funds. If they are above board they should be fine with that. I would also tell them that due to the unusual nature of the entire transaction you are going to arrange to transfer the funds to them at your lawyers office so there can be an officer of the court there to witness the transaction so there will be no question of whether or not they received their funds in their entirety. Also that whoever picks up the funds will have to present valid ID that matches the name on the lease (even though they did not sign it) so the lawyer can make sure the proper person is receiving the funds. If they balk at this, stand firm. That would indicate to me they are running a scam. I would bet your lawyer will have a few additional ideas.

The answer is basically no. No one will want to be in second position on that type of loan. Also, if you are buying an investment property the max LTV will probably run around 80%. But talking to a good mortgage broker is the right way to start. They can tell you what is currently available. And you can simply ask the mortgage broker to lay out what loan options there are based on your current situation and what type of property you are trying to acquire. If you still have questions just ask them. Most decent brokers won't care that you aren't deeply learned in mortgages. That is their job and how they make money.

I have never lived in an area that does heating oil so I may have a different outlook but.... I would think it would make more sense to charge an averaged oil/utility charge over the course of a lease, based on average monthly costs. If I am a tenant looking to move in and almost immediately I am supposed to pay to fill the oil tank, I am going to be seriously ticked off. Also, if I am a tenant nearing the end of my lease, I going to do my best to skimp on oil usage and leave the tank as close to bone dry as possible. And honestly that is not being a jerk tenant, that is just making a legal, economic/business decision. But the standard way of doing things there may be different so just my two cents worth.

Lawyer. That is the first step without a doubt. File a counter claim for enough in damages to push it up to big boy court. Contact the LA Housing Authority Mod and check their drug policy. Almost every program across the nation has serious restrictions on drug use. This family is just trying to screw you. Also look at filing trespassing charges and anything else the lawyer can come up with. THEY caused the fire and yet are trying to come after your family. I can assure you it's unlikely they have any assets to go after but you need to go after them big time so they have no leg to stand on.

In the military FUBAR is an acronym for F'ed Up Beyond All Recognition. I am curious as to the use of the term wrap in this case. It sounds like the wrap might be one where he wrapped two properties into one mortgage. I don't know that this affects how the deal plays out but I am curious nonetheless. As most have said on here, you really need to get an attorney involved at this point. You might also spend some time talking to the title company or another title company of your choosing. They are usually run by lawyers and sometimes they know more about this type of thing than any other lawyers out there due to the volume of transactions they look at. They can also just be money factories that are greedy and incompetent. I have seen both. Best of luck.

@Bill Gulley has the right answer. Don't do it. I used to help underwrite loans at a wholesaler and the ways they look for OO as opposed to NOO are myriad. And if my nose starts to twitch that something smells wrong, I will hunt and search until I know for certain. Title company searches by your name, looking for any property you have purchased ever. Calls to utility companies and cable providers. Look up the registration on your car.

And on and on. When you filled out the loan app you basically gave up all rights to privacy.

And if you do manage to convince me or another underwriter that all is well, expect that because of the level of scrutiny you were put under, months later somebody from QC will check into it again. And if they figure out you did a bad thing, it will go south for you quickly. Best case scenario they call the loan due so you need to be able to pay cash right then. If you can't and the lender suffers a loss (or even worse FHA or Fannie etc does) then you are looking at fines and or prison time. Don't ever think "it won't happen to me". I know a bunch of appraisers and LO's that thought the same thing. Most of them are out now but.........

You probably need to make some calls and/or do some more research. I used to lend wholesale on mobile homes in FL. If I remember right the rules were totally different for MH's that were classified as, in essence a vehicle or personal property, as opposed to one that had been converted to be "Real Property". I am sure it is way more complex than that but I am sure someone on here has more experience with this issue that is far less ancient than my own knowledge. A Google search on Florida Mobile Homes convert "real property" will bring up a whole ton of links.

Why not owner occupieds? I know a number of HML's that still do them. I know some of the ones that stopped, did so over Dodd-Frank stuff but I haven't paid much attention in the last few years. I was under the impression that (at least here in Colorado) as long as you were lending your own money you didn't get caught up in a lot of the DF problems. Not saying anybody is wrong about not lending on OO's but just curious.