Is fiance taking advantage of me? Should I buy house & not have name on deed to give him exempt tax status?

Question

My fiance and I own our own homes and he has an LLC with two partners. Recently we were looking at buying a new home together without selling our respective properties and both of us pulling our money together for a down payment. He informed me that he would have to have his name on the deed, without mine being on it, for a tax shelter/break because he claims exempt at work to not pay taxes because of all of the losses he has through his real estate investments and that he would have to use our home as a shelter to continue to claim exempt at work to continue to make more money for us. Is this true? would me being on the deed make that big of a difference with regards to his tax status and claiming exempt? He says we can do a side agreement stating I am owner of the home too. I told him I don't feel comfortable with buying a home, not being married, and not having my name on the deed. He says he won't let me hold him back so he is going to do it on his own.

Answer 1

Sounds like he is trying to take advantage of the system. I do not see what would go wrong with your name also being on the property if you are able to be married. Things would not hurt if your name is not on it or your money at this time. If you are not trusting him now, that is something to think about on the marriage. I would not just hand over a chunk of money to get a house and not have my name on it.

Answer 2

It's true that you could get some protection for your interest by way of a side agreement, but your interest would not be secured by that particular property. Then too, if he breached the agreement, you would have to take steps to enforce it. This is far less secure than having your name on the deed.
Another cautionary note is that I would look closely at exactly what he is doing here. Is there some sort of fraud or tax evasion involved? An agreement to engage in illegal conduct is not enforceable. It's that old doctrine of "unclean hands".
Either get your name on the deed or run this by a good lawyer, of your choice, who is dedicated solely to protecting your interests.

Answer 3

Let him do it on his own. You should not put money toward a house and not have your name on the deed. You need your name on the deed in order to show legal ownership. I don't know what he's referring to as a side agreement but if I were in your shoes, I would not put money toward that house with him. Are you two planning on living in the house? If so, I don't know how he could use that as a tax shelter either. It sounds like you need to let him do his own thing and stay out of it.

Answer 4

I'm not sure if what he is saying is true or not and he may have the best of intentions now but I would NOT do that! Even if he isn't trying to take advantage of you now what happens if things go bad between the two of you. Even if you have some agreement saying you are part owner your name is NOT on the deed and you would have to take him to court to fight it & who knows how long that will take and what you would end up getting. Please trust your gut on this one and make sure your name is on that deed!
=0)

Answer 5

If you aren't in the deed then you would not be protected should anything ever happen to the two of you. Don't put your money on something you aren't going to listed as an owner on or you risk being conned out of your investment..

Answer 6

BEWARE - this leaves you open to a variety of potential problems down the road. Plus a home that is his own home has far different rules taxwise than one that's investment/rental property.

He sounds pretty shaky, frankly.

Answer 7

you put in money, you get your name on that deed. if he keeps acting like this, give him his ring back and move on.