Can a wife who has POA for her husband, who is stationed overseas with the military, sign for him, as his POA, on a loan to purchase a mobile home? How would we ID him for CIP? Does the POA allow her to obligate him on a loan?

Its very common for spouses to be issued a POA while military husband is overseas. It a recommended process by the military.

Read the POA and see what powers have been granted. Generally, full power to sign obligates them to any debt.

You can corresponde directly with the spouse and get a statement that he authorizes wife to sign for mobil home loan. That should also act as sufficient ID

I agree with Don. Since POA's are governed by state law, you may wish to check the specific requirements too. The POA for buying/selling real property can be as simple as a simple power of attorney or as complex as a recorded specific power of attorney. If you sell loans on the secondary market, another source would be the loan investor. Ask them what their requirements might be.

I believe under CIP, you would have a lot of alternate ways to identify the borrower, credit bureaus, verifications of deposits, employment, mortgage, rent, etc. Check your bank policy for verification if the person does not have an ID.

When Southern Banker says "recorded" POA, he/she means recorded with the property records. I know that here in Texas, to use a POA for real property transactions, the POA must be recorded in the property records of the county where the real property is located.

(I know this is old, but I'm just trying to complete the Q&A.)

You may also want to look at 10 USC 1044b which govern's a military POA:

§ 1044b. Military powers of attorney: requirement for recognition by States

(a) Instruments To Be Given Legal Effect Without Regard to State Law.— A military power of attorney—
(1) is exempt from any requirement of form, substance, formality, or recording that is provided for powers of attorney under the laws of a State; and
(2) shall be given the same legal effect as a power of attorney prepared and executed in accordance with the laws of the State concerned.
(b) Military Power of Attorney.— For purposes of this section, a military power of attorney is any general or special power of attorney that is notarized in accordance with section 1044a of this title or other applicable State or Federal law.
(c) Statement To Be Included.—
(1) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, each military power of attorney shall contain a statement that sets forth the provisions of subsection (a).
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be construed to make inapplicable the provisions of subsection (a) to a military power of attorney that does not include a statement described in that paragraph.
(d) State Defined.— In this section, the term “State” includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and a possession of the United States.

I've got an issue right now concerning a military POA. The wife has POA that is very detailed and all inclusive. They have applied for a mortgage loan with us in our mortgage dept where the loan will be sold on the secondary market. Our investor requires the POA specifically state the property to be mortgaged, the loan amount, the lender, and the rate. Of course the POA they have doesn't state this. We mentioned to the wife a new POA may need to be drawn up she became irate. She even had the military JAG call us about it. Our bank is happy witht the current POA and have done a loan for them using it but our investor is not. Is there a special rule for military POAs??

Not that I am aware of, other than listed above.

You don't have to use a POA. It seems your investor will not so your choice may be to make the loan and own it, or get what the investor wants, or get another investor.

My recollection is that there are a few varieties of POA forms but they are pretty standard. Being legal documents, there aren't special provisions for JAG POAs but rather it may be that the spouse is away and a new POA may be difficult to get.