The Creative Investor - Credit Investor, Straw Buyers, and Mortgage Fraud

I know many of you may know or have heard that the FBI has is cracking down on mortgage fraud and in their attempt to due so certain

practices that a lot of investors use may be subject to criticism and prosecution. A hot topic of discussion these days along these lines

is what is consider a credit investor in a real estate

transaction? Is a credit investor legal? And how is a credit investor

different from a straw buyer?

I will answer these questions showing three major 3 differences

between a legitimate

credit investor from a bogus straw buyer.

A straw buyer uses a stolen identity or lies on the loan application to qualify for owner-occupied financing;

A credit buyer uses their own identity and their credit is good enough to qualify for non-owner occupied financing.

A straw buyer is offered money just for the use of their name on the loan application and may never even know what the investment is.

A credit partner is involved in the decision making process, understands the investment, and is offered a split of the proceeds when the deal is profitable.

A straw buyer transfers title and relinquishes control to the mastermind behind the scheme once financing is in place. A credit partner remains on title with the other partners (eg. tenants
in common, tenants by the entirety, etc.) or arranges to have title held in escrow (eg. a land trust) until the property is sold and profit is split between the partners.

These qualifications in my opinion are the finer distinctions that help investors use a credit investor is the appropriate way.

James Hunter is a commercial mortgage consultant for Alpha Omega Financial. He can be reached at 516-404-3268

Alpha Omega Financial specialized in the high loan to value no debt service commercial real estate loans up to 90% loan to value.