Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Alabama

Re: aliens buying a house in United States of America

One may buy a house in USA without being a citizen. Before buying a house, you need to ascertain the title; once you have finalized the transaction, make the full payment, close the deal, take possession and enjoy your property; post-buying you may decide if you would like to keep the property or rent it out. Depending upon your status, you may or may not be able to pay income tax out of the rental income, if any. You may also be liable to pay local taxes, if any.

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Re: aliens buying a house in United States of America

You have posted your question in wrong forum. This forum is about Indian Property Laws. Choose appropriate State of USA for proper reply.

Re: aliens buying a house in United States of America

No, you do not need to be a U.S. citizen to buy a house.

Lots of non-citizens can and do buy real estate in the U.S. In fact, the most recent statistics I looked at say that the top three nations buying U.S. land are England, Canada and Japan. You need to remember that individual foreign nationals that buy U.S. land do so with CASH.

If you need a federal (FHA) or even a non-government conventional mortgage loan to buy a home, you still don't have to be a U.S. citizen, but there are some rules you have to follow.

So here are the rules: if you are not a citizen of the U.S., you need to be a permanent resident alien with a valid INS card or, "Green Card" (Mica) and Social Security number. Or, you can be a temporary resident alien with a valid work permit and a valid Social Security number. You must also have been in the United States continuously for the last 2 years, had steady employment and established a good credit history.

If you purchased your social security card off a street vendor, you should not be able to get a mortgage loan. Especially if you used a government program like FHA or CHFA to get the loan. False social security cards and false documents, if included in a mortgage loan application, is called mortgage fraud and you could go to jail.

In spite of all this, I suspect some real estate agents and mortgage lenders still process home loans for people who have used false documents and lied on the loan application. The fact is, that there doesn't seem to be a really good way to check if the social security number is false or not. Well, there really is a good way, but some mortgage lenders just don't seem to want to pick up the phone and call the Social Security Administration. Here, then, is a true future story....just for you.

You decide to use your false social security card and false INS Alien Registration Card to get a loan to buy a house. After all, you have lots of friends and relatives who've done the same and are happily living in their new home. You've been in the U.S. for over 6 years, paid your federal and state taxes, so you believe you're owed the benefits of citizenship in this country. Sure enough, you get the loan and you buy your home. You and your family move in and everyone is happy.