“One of those Awkward Moments”

I was doing a mortgage for folks that were not married, but planning on getting married in a few months. They were both selling condos and buying a single family home, but neither needed to sell prior to purchasing.

I was going through the application process and reviewing all of the necessary documents. As I was reviewing the pay stubs, I noticed a wage garnishment for him, which I needed an explanation about, not noticing he was turning bright red, asked what it was for. There was complete silence and immediately knew there was a big problem.

His fiancé came to my rescue, asking if I would mind leaving the conference room for a few minutes. The action was getting really serious and I was afraid I would need to intervene. After what seemed like hours, actually maybe 30 minutes, I was asked to join them.

She told me that he would now explain the garnishment. It was for child support and the fiancé had never been told. You would think this would have been explained long before a decision was made  to get married and buying a home.

We competed the mortgage application process and the loan closed, but I was never sure they should sell their condos.