Why does my mortgage company need proof of marriage for refinancing?

Question by ka quillen: Why does my mortgage company need proof of marriage for refinancing?
My husband and I are refinancing our mortgage through a different lender. I kept my maiden name so of course we have different last names. We have to give our new lender a copy of our marriage license for the refinancing paperwork. Although I don’t remember for sure, I don’t think we had to provide such proof last year when we got the original mortgage. Why does it matter whether we are married or not? How would it affect the process if we were simply a common-law couple?

Best answer:

Answer by Janet W
Because it’s important that they finance to a married couple, it is more stable. Pretty simple/

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8 Responses to Why does my mortgage company need proof of marriage for refinancing?

  1. ouragon says:

    Unmarried people who buy a house together are nuts. Just my opinion.

  2. shelle says:

    Because it proves that you are legally together if both of you want to be on the loan for your house and will help it process faster too.

  3. misskelleygirl says:

    If I remember correctly…the law doesn’t recognize common law marriages any longer.

    Also I would think…with the state the economy is in right now…and lenders struggling as the rest of us are…they are coverin’ all their bases!!

  4. ssparkle63 says:

    evidently you told them you were married and they want proof, why is this bothering you

  5. thatartistwin says:

    I am very curious why you would ask how it would affect the process if you were simply common-law if that is not the case. Clearly you are going to have to tell the mortgage company the truth. They need to know if you are married for many reasons. One is that if you do not pay your bills, they can come after both of you and not just one of you. Another reason is house ownership….if you are married both of you own it regardless of who has their name on the mortgage. If you are unmarried, in some cases, only the person who got the mortgage in the first place owns it. In addition, should either of you be involved in lawsuit, the plantiff can go after the house……they need to know who will be the owner in that case. There are many reasons…that is only a handful.

  6. CoeyG says:

    It matters because of taxes DUH and most states in the U.S. no longer recognize “common law” marriages. The mortgage company wants to make sure that one of you are not going to skip out with all of the assets leaving the other party to face foreclosure because they can’t pay the mortgage. What does it matter that the mortgage company wants to make sure they get their money? Repeat these words 10 times…”common sense”

  7. cinny says:

    You just answered it, you have different last names, so naturally you would think you are just living together. That’s what I would assume if I was that loan officer. Also, lending rules have tightened over the last 2 years. Loans are not given out like they use to, it may only get worse, even refinancing has changed too.

  8. oliva says:

    If you are looking for the best mortgage refinancing site, try this site

    http://best-mortgage-refinancing.com/

    Here you can find the lowest interest rate in your area

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