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September 3, 2008 8:30 AM

Seller wonders about need for green card

Posted by Elizabeth Rhodes

Q: I'm in deep distress on my mortgage and need to sell. I've found buyers from my old country, but they don't have green cards. Do they need to have green cards to buy a house?

A: "The answer is no. There is no law prohibiting a foreign person from buying a house or any real property; it happens all the time," says attorney Robert Wells Jr. of Mikkelborg Broz Wells Fryer in Seattle.

Indeed, many foreign citizens buy U.S. properties solely as vacation homes, much as Americans buy in Mexico.

But getting a mortgage could be an impediment.

"If they're here illegally they've tried to disguise their whereabouts," Wells says. "A mortgage company is going to ask what their status is in the U.S. More and more, the immigration authorities are deputizing all kinds of civilians to report them if they detect any irregularities."

Even if that isn't an obstacle, Wells says your buyers should expect to pay a higher mortgage-interest rate than they would if they were here and working legally.

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