loan to illegal

Posted By: SnowRed

loan to illegal - 01/31/11 05:10 PM

Through a review, we have identified a loan to an illegal. When the loan was underwritten, approved and booked, the information was missed. We gave her the benefit of the doubt and asked her to bring it the proper documentation. As you can guess, we haven't rec'd it. Although it is not prudent lending practice to allow this to happen, are we in some other trouble from another reg?
Posted By: Dani York, CRCM

Re: loan to illegal - 01/31/11 05:14 PM

This could be a CIP violation, depending on what your CIP requirements are.
Posted By: SnowRed

Re: loan to illegal - 01/31/11 05:52 PM

It is a CIP violation per our policy. But what do I do to fix it? Demand the loan? What are my options?
Posted By: Dani York, CRCM

Re: loan to illegal - 01/31/11 06:38 PM

There is nothing you can do to fix the CIP violation or the exception to policy. You should document the finding and shore up any holes in your procedures to prevent this from happening again.

You can call the loan if your loan contract provides for it, however, there may be issues regarding collection of the debt (sorry, that's not my area of expertise).
Posted By: *W*W*

Re: loan to illegal - 01/31/11 11:08 PM

Is the loan contract valid if the borrower is here illegally?
Posted By: Dani York, CRCM

Re: loan to illegal - 02/01/11 01:19 PM

From my basic understanding of contract law, a contract is legally binding if 2 (or more) parties of sound mind are in agreement and sign the document. I don't think citizenship or immigration status affect one's ability to enter into a contract. But I'm not a lawyer and that would be a better question for bank counsel.
Posted By: John Burnett

Re: loan to illegal - 02/01/11 02:14 PM

Citizenship and residency status don't affect the validity of the loan contract but may affect your ability to collect if the borrower leaves the country.
Posted By: SnowRed

Re: loan to illegal - 02/01/11 10:40 PM

Very helpful. Thank you.
Posted By: NEAuditor

Re: loan to illegal - 02/02/11 05:16 PM

I didn't see it specifically mentioned above, but you should also follow your SAR decisioning process as presumably some piece of identifying information was false/stolen.
Posted By: SnowRed

Re: loan to illegal - 02/02/11 08:56 PM

Good point. Thank you.