So… I haven’t done anything. But I know that this little family got a “first time buyer” mortgage for a place in our neighborhood and they are living elsewhere.
They come over on weekends and pretend to be residents but it’s a scam so they can get a better mortgage deal.
They are taking this opportunity away from a family that might be legitimate first time buyers.
Also… they are just going to turn around a rent the place.
Just don’t let it affect your actual life and you’ll be fine. NTA
Should I report them?
My desire to see scuzzy landlords go down is at war with my urge to not recommend you narc on behalf of a bank
I know!! It’s so disgusting.
But were I to narc, it wouldn’t be on behalf of the bank. It would be on behalf the actual first time buyers who lose the opportunity because of fraudsters.
How do you know they are scuzzy landlords?
They’re committing mortgage fraud to get a rental property that should technically be a first-time-buyer subsidized home. That’s pretty scuzzy in itself.
I have rented many properties in my life and how the owner financed the property has ad zero impact on my experience as a renter.
You are inventing something to get outraged about as is the OP.
You know, I’ve rented a great many properties myself - I even ran the student housing assistance desk for a while while in my undergrad. In absolutely none of the rental arrangements I helped with or myself engaged in have I been given the details of my landlord’s financial situation.
However I do feel safe in concluding that someone comitting a morally objectionable crime in order to secure a rental property will have a vested interest in not engaging in things that might require financial disclosure - things like maintenance companies, inspections, renters insurance…
What you and the OP are getting hung up on is the definition of a first time buyer.
How does the lending institution or program that offers that service define the eligibility?
Qualifying for that probably doesn’t equate to committing a “morally objectionable crime” that you are getting worked up about.
While I don’t know the terms for literally every single program out there (statistics I’m seeing put the total number at 2,100+) I do know that to qualify for federal assistance for those programs, you can only extend the benefits to people who are purchasing it as a primary residence.
If you’re only living there on the weekends (2/7 of your time spent there, which is less than the 1/2 year requirement for something to be considered a primary residence), that is not a primary residence.
You’re really into the idea that nothing bad is happening here, when op explicitly outlines exactly what bad thing is happening here. Unless OP is fundamentally wrong in the details, which we have no reason to suspect, you’re just arguing that we should be nicer to landlords on account of “well they might not be doing anything wrong”.
Report them to… who?
Their lender.
They will not care.
What if you report them, they know it was you and nothing ends up happening? How would you feel then?
Well… yeah. I don’t think they would know it’s me. Haven’t said anything to anyone about this. It’s unlikely nothing would happen though. Banks hate fraud.