Posted by Noreen Stewart on 11/24/09 2:55pm
Msg #312110

Married, Separate Property - NB Spouse Signatures?

I have an IL closing with odd phrasing on the mortgage. The borrower is listed as "a married man as his separate property." His wife's name does not appear on the mortgage, riders, TIL, RTC and other docs a non-borrowing spouse should sign in IL.

Is this correct - no spouse signatures? Seems odd to me...

Reply by MW/VA on 11/24/09 2:58pm
Msg #312111

Yes, I have seen that here in VA also. It is correct. If title is held that way, there is no spousal issue.

Reply by Jim/AL on 11/24/09 3:30pm
Msg #312118

Yup, sounds like investment property. n/m

Reply by ChristineHI on 11/24/09 4:56pm
Msg #312126

Well at least in my state, and other states that are not community property states, that is very common. The borrower owns the property without their spouse. It is completely fine in my state. In fact, the non owner spouse doesn't sign anything at all, and doesn't even need to know about it. :-)

Reply by JanetK_CA on 11/24/09 6:03pm
Msg #312130

I would be cautious about following any advice from someone unless you're sure they know about Illinois specifically. Every state is different - even community property states. For example, California is considered to be a community property state, but it's not at all uncommon for a person to own property "sole and separate", without the spouse having to sign anything.

If you have doubts, your best bet is to talk to your client or tc contact. It's the closing agent/tc that is responsible to make sure the vesting is correct.

Reply by Pat/IL on 11/25/09 12:59am
Msg #312161

Janet's advice is good. In Illinois, if it's their primary residence, and the loan is a refinance for non-business purposes, the spouse is pretty much signing. In twenty years in the title business in Illinois, I have never seen the clause "as his separate property" on an Illinois mortgage or deed, to my memory. It is not a recognized tenancy here.

That's not to say, some Californians could not have moved here and drawn up their own deed, thinking things work the same here. But I doubt it. Californians don't move to Illinois, they move to Boulder.

Maybe the property is in a community property state and they are signing here, in which case, I believe, you would follow that state's recording laws. Or, more likely, it's an out of state lender applying the wrong lingo to the mortgage. In any case, check with your hiring party. I can't think of every scenario.