Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania

Hi, and Thank you for your question,

You can certainly put your name on the deed, but the lender usually gets a copy of the deed and it would be perfectly normal for the lender to demand that you execute the Note and Mortgage also. Lenders normally require all title holders to execute the Note and Mortgage. If only one of the owners executed the note and mortgage, the lender would not be able to foreclose on the mortgage in the event of default.

Kind regards, and Best Wishes for 2015,

ANDREA G. TILLIS

The lender would be very concerned about having someone on title who has credit issues. This is because there is a greater risk that liens will attach to the property and judgment-creditors will seek to exercise their remedies against the property (sell it) to get their judgments paid. They can't do this against only your interest, but it causes problems, and lenders don't like problems.

Ms. Tillis is correct that your name and your brother-in-law's name can both be on the deed, and both of you will have to sign the mortgage, although since only your brother-in-law's credit will be used, only he would have to sign the note. Not all lenders understand that division of the obligation (note) and the security for the obligation (mortgage).

If you end up not having your name on the deed, be sure to have a written agreement with your brother-in-law documenting your interest in the property, your contribution toward the down payment, if any, and how you and he are dividing the mortgage and any other payments, and how you will share in ongoing costs and how you would share in the proceeds of a sale. A memorandum of that documents should be recorded in the office where deeds are recorded, so that anyone checking the land records will be on notice of your interest in the property. That is the only way to protect your interest. Technically, if the lender checks land records, this might be regarded as a violation of the "due on sale" provision of the mortgage, triggering a default, but then again, it might not.

You definitely should involved an experienced local real estate lawyer on your behalf in this transaction.

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