Occupancy Determination (CHECK BOX)

[Peter LeQuire]

"I really like Mich's idea of not checking a box and explaining the situation and dumping it into the UW's lap. "

But, what will the reviewer do with that? Probably demand that an occupancy box be checked.

And yes, the check box in some cases might be misleading, particularly in the context of the often voiced complaint that "form monkeys" aren't reading our beautifully crafted addenda with their several paragraphs of turgid prose explaining every nuance of the box we did or did not check. Which phenomenon is the cause of the RTFR report.

The thought occured to me that, in the current environment in which lenders and regulators are trying to find as many scapegoats as they can, there is every reason to as critical of the information we're gathering as we can.

 

[residentialguy]

"I really like Mich's idea of not checking a box and explaining the situation and dumping it into the UW's lap. "

But, what will the reviewer do with that? Probably demand that an occupancy box be checked.

And yes, the check box in some cases might be misleading, particularly in the context of the often voiced complaint that "form monkeys" aren't reading our beautifully crafted addenda with their several paragraphs of turgid prose explaining every nuance of the box we did or did not check. Which phenomenon is the cause of the RTFR report.

The thought occured to me that, in the current environment in which lenders and regulators are trying to find as many scapegoats as they can, there is every reason to as critical of the information we're gathering as we can.

Make sure you state in the addendum that the boxes were left unchecked because checking a box would be misleading ... that way when the ph monkey ***ks you to check it, you reply with; I have stated that it would be misleading in the report. Now, you're asking me to change the report to be misleading? What is your full name? :icon_mrgreen:

 

[BRCJR]

If the subject is rented for 14 days or less, per year, you do not have to claim the rental fee as income on your tax return.

If the property is not claimed as rental, the proper schedule is not completed and included on the owner of public records tax return, you may not have a rental property by definition.

What if it meets the definition of owner occupancy and my comments/report stop a loan from proceeding? I have created liability for myself?

Do I want to get involved, as an appraiser, in this situation?

How do you know that the individual letting you in is the owner, anyway?

Many could be "tenants" and we would never know the difference.

I think Florida, for example, may be a state that requires you to "occupy" the dwelling 6 months and 1 day to claim as primary residence.

I do not think there is a cut and dry answer, so I defer to proper explanation, once again, explain, explain, explain.

 

[BOCK FOLKEN]

If the subject is rented for 14 days or less, per year, you do not have to claim the rental fee as income on your tax return.

If the property is not claimed as rental, the proper schedule is not completed and included on the owner of public records tax return, you may not have a rental property by definition.

What if it meets the definition of owner occupancy and my comments/report stop a loan from proceeding? I have created liability for myself?

Do I want to get involved, as an appraiser, in this situation?

How do you know that the individual letting you in is the owner, anyway?

Many could be "tenants" and we would never know the difference.

I think Florida, for example, may be a state that requires you to "occupy" the dwelling 6 months and 1 day to claim as primary residence.

I do not think there is a cut and dry answer, so I defer to proper explanation, once again, explain, explain, explain.

Florida may be a bad example. Due to the snowbird population, all of whom would just love to claim Florida as their primary occupancy (versus say...New York for example) for a whole bunch of reasons, not the least of which is no income tax, and no personal property tax. Many of them "live" in Florida 90 days or less, hence the 6 month + 1 rule.

Let's remember, the lender is charged with sorting this, not us. And the lender can waive anything we report by creating an exception and explaining it in their file, based on an affidavit from the borrower showing the property is not a "rental property". If we check Tenant, the lender must start dancing to explain. But our report is correct.

In this case the property in question was tenant occupied as reported to the appraiser by the owner. Everything else we've discussed, nearly all of which is also true, was not the case at the time of the appraisal.

Check Tenant, and explain.

bock

 

[Going Zen]

Point taken.

here are Fannie's second home requirements:

Must be located a reasonable distance away from the borrower’s principal
residence.
Must be occupied by the borrower for some portion of the year.
Is restricted to one-unit dwellings.
Must be suitable for year-round occupancy.
The borrower must have exclusive control over the property.
Must not be rental property or a timeshare arrangement.
Cannot be subject to any agreements that give a management firm control over the
occupancy of the property.

 

[Going Zen]

On the days this property is rented, who has "exclusive control" over the property. Under most tenant occupancy laws, it is the tenant who controls access.