Documenting Your Assets – Verifying Your Down Payment
Gifts
Especially when buying a first home, some borrowers need help coming up with the down payment. Family members are often a good source of assistance. Mom, pop, grandparents, brothers, sister, aunts and uncles -- all are acceptable. Gifts from non-family members are generally not acceptable unless you can document a close past relationship. In other words, your friend or coworker is not generally acceptable.
If you do get help from family member, lenders require this to come in the form of a "gift." If you're really borrowing the money from your family member, intending to pay it back later -- your lender doesn't want to know about it. With rare exceptions, you are not allowed to borrow money to come up with your down payment.
