Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

Short sales are typically negotiated so that the owner/seller is forgiven the deficiency, or at least that's the way ideally it should be. But without knowing if that is the case, you run the risk of giving your brother what amounts to a gift of a share in your house, and that could be an asset that the lender might be able to try to grab if the deficiency has not been forgiven. You could risk your home. So I would suggest before doing anything you should see an attorney with all of his closing documents (the credit report is nice but credit reporting agencies have been known to make mistakes) and make sure the deficiency was forgiven before doing anything. That is issue number 1. Issue number 2 is whether the new lender will allow this addition without your brother being on the loan/mortgage; adding people to property without the lender's knowledge could trigger a "due on sale" clause even if no money is exchanged for the title change. In any event, if he will not be on the mortgage what is the point of adding him to your house title? Again, see an attorney.