Is A Home Loan Affected By A Houston DUI Or DWI
In general, a prior DUI conviction shouldn’t prevent or affect a Houston home loan from getting approved.
Truthfully, there are certain areas that are not affected negatively by a DUI conviction; which frequently will depend on the laws in the state where the conviction occurred and the circumstances that led up to your arrest and subsequent conviction. However, in numerous DUI cases, all the courts rule on are financial penalties (fees and fines). So you will be subject to monetary penalties, in other words.
Although a person’s credit profile or score is not affected by criminal convictions, monetary penalties like unpaid fines, court fines, and other penalties might show up on your credit history as unpaid rulings. Therefore, it can negatively affect your credit score.
Background Checks For Loans
It is very important to note that the request for disclosing any prior doesn’t mean the financier will conduct a criminal background check. You should be aware that usually home loan background checks are limited to major credit reporting agencies like Transunion, Experian, and Equifax, which all define your credit score and profile.
DUI Conviction Records
Criminal convictions get recorded in the specific court where the case is filed. Therefore, any individual who has knowledge of the access is able to access the records via the court clerk’s office. A person is required to visit the office in person. There is no countrywide open reachable criminal conviction record that exists, contrary to what is popularly believed. The only countrywide criminal conviction database that is in existence is at the FBI’s National Crime Information Center.
However, only the FBI, as well as other law enforcement agencies, have access to this database. It is also important to note that some states to maintain a public database containing criminal convictions. The process for collecting this information isn’t standardized and varies widely depending on the county’s official report. Therefore, it is not very likely that the lender will be aware of your DUI record unless you supply the information on the courthouse where it occurred.
Fines And Court Fees
The amount of the fines, court fees and other types of monetary penalties on a DUI conviction vary from one state to the next. The severity of the specific offense will affect the amount as well. In California, for example, the fines and court fee or a first DUI offense may exceed $4,000. A first DUI conviction fine in Texas, on the other hand, is $2,000 and you might end up paying fees of $1,000 to $2,000 if the blood alcohol concentration is in excess of 0.16%.
The DUI fine only will be a matter of record for the criminal case. However, if somebody fails to pay the fine, unpaid fines will be collected by the court via the civil ruling collection process. One of the most common techniques that are used is an abstract of the ruling is recorded with the country recorder’s office. The credit reporting agencies would find unpaid judgments from these records.
Bail Bond Issues
If you posted a bail bond after a DUI arrest, then the bail bondman will most likely require that a bond lien be recorded against your property as a condition of your bail bond. As long as you make all of your required court appearances, the court should release the bond and also the bail bondsman will record a release of your bond lien. If a release does not get recorded, then the lien will be discovered by the lender during your loan application process. However, if you do have an active lien it shouldn’t prevent you from getting a home loan but you will need to get it released in order for your loan to be approved.
If you would like to work with an experienced DWI attorney in Houston, give our firm a call or contact us today! For more related articles, feel free to visit our blog.