Marc Edelstein-Ross Mortgage - NMLS 533706

09/22/2026

If you're going through a divorce, protecting your credit and your identity is easy to overlook while so much else is changing. These four steps are worth saving.

Two points stand out to me as a Certified Divorce Lending Professional.

Your divorce decree divides responsibility between you and your spouse, but it does not change your contract with a lender. If your name is on a joint account, the lender can still collect from you.

And after years together, your spouse likely knows your passwords and the answers to your security questions. Updating those protections is a routine step, not an accusation.

Here is where to start: check your credit reports for free every week at AnnualCreditReport.com, freeze your credit at all three bureaus, change your passwords, PINs, and security questions, and report any account you did not open at IdentityTheft.gov.

If you plan to buy or refinance, keep in mind that a credit freeze must be lifted before a lender can review your credit. Just as important, talk with a Certified Divorce Lending Professional before you apply. As a CDLP®, I am trained specifically in how the terms of a divorce, from joint debts to the timing of your settlement, can affect your mortgage options.

Contact me directly to start your Divorce Mortgage Plan.

09/19/2026

Divorce is stressful enough without unexpected financial surprises. Many people don’t realize their credit report may be hiding details that can affect housing options and long-term financial stability.

▪️Joint accounts can still impact your score after divorce
▪️Missed payments affect both parties, even if the court says otherwise
▪️Hidden liabilities can stand in the way of mortgage approval

As a Certified Divorce Lending Professional (CDLP®), I help uncover these risks early and create a plan that protects your credit and your ability to secure housing after divorce.

Read more in this article from the Divorce Lending Association: http://bit.ly/3ISFPUf

You deserve clarity and stability as you move forward. Don’t let hidden credit issues stand in the way of your fresh start.

09/17/2026

The risk in divorce isn’t the house. It’s the assumption.

Assuming someone can refinance.
Assuming income will qualify.
Assuming debt on paper translates to debt in underwriting.

These assumptions are where breakdowns happen.

Because mortgage guidelines don’t interpret intent—they evaluate structure.

When housing decisions are made without validating:
• Income continuance and usability
• Debt-to-income impact
• Title and liability exposure
• Timing of ex*****on

The result is often a settlement that cannot be implemented as written.

This is the gap Divorce Mortgage Planning is designed to solve.

It ensures that real property decisions are not only negotiated—but actually executable within lending guidelines.

For professionals, this is about protecting the integrity of the agreement.
For clients, it’s about protecting their financial future.

If you’re involved in a divorce case with real estate, the question isn’t what was agreed to—
it’s whether it will work.

Let’s connect.

09/15/2026

Two appellate decisions, nearly identical facts, opposite results. The Divorce Lending Association's article on what a decree can compel walks through both, and the difference came down to a single drafting choice.

In the first, the agreement made the transfer of the departing spouse's interest conditional on the refinance closing. The refinance never closed, the parties were still co-tenants, and partition was available.

In the second, the agreement granted exclusive possession and required only that the parties cooperate with a refinance. The transfer was not conditioned on anything. When the loan did not happen, the court found no enforceable obligation to sell.

Same fact pattern. Same failed refinance. One party had a remedy and the other did not, and it was decided at signing rather than at the hearing.

The article also explains the distinction underneath both outcomes: a court can execute a deed, but it cannot execute a loan approval. Refusal it can reach through Rule 70, an elisor, or contempt. Inability it cannot reach at all.

https://divorcebriefings.com/4xn4raE

I am a Certified Divorce Lending Professional. Reviewing this language while it can still be changed is the work I do with counsel, and I am glad to look at a provision with you.

09/10/2026

Many divorce settlements fail after the decree. Not because the agreement was unfair, but because it was never aligned with lending reality.

One of the most overlooked risks in divorce cases is assuming that housing decisions negotiated in settlement will automatically translate into mortgage approval.

They don’t.

Mortgage underwriting follows strict guidelines around income history, debt allocation, credit, and documentation. If those factors aren’t evaluated during settlement negotiations, clients may later discover that the refinance, buyout, or new home purchase written into the decree simply isn’t achievable.

This is why integrating Divorce Mortgage Planning early in the case matters.

As a Certified Divorce Lending Professional (CDLP®), my role on the divorce team is to help align:

• Settlement terms
• Mortgage qualification requirements
• Real property decisions
• Long-term housing sustainability

When legal intent and lending guidelines are evaluated together, settlements become not only legally enforceable but financially executable.

For attorneys, mediators, and financial professionals, this integration can reduce post-decree surprises, protect your client’s housing outcome, and strengthen the durability of the agreement.

If you work with cases involving real property, this article is worth a read. https://bit.ly/4rCkLSb

How are you currently integrating mortgage feasibility into your settlement strategy?

09/04/2026

Thinking about buying a home that needs some work? Or maybe you're already in a home and want to renovate but don't know how to pay for it?

The FHA 203(k) loan lets you finance a home purchase (or refinance) and the renovation costs into one loan. No need to save up separately or take out a second loan after closing.

I broke down everything you need to know in my latest blog post:

Standard vs. Limited 203(k): what's the difference and which one fits your project
Why most people prefer the Limited option (it saves time and money)
What actually counts toward your total renovation cost. It's more than just the contractor's bid, and this trips a lot of people up
The 2026 loan limits for Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and every county in Michigan

If you've been passing on homes that need updating because you didn't think you could afford both the house and the renovation, this loan might change that math.

Read the full breakdown here: https://www.thatmortgagebanker.com/fha-203k-loans-in-2026-full-vs-streamline-and-whats-changed/

Questions? Drop them below or send me a message.

A current look at FHA 203(k) renovation loans for Metro Detroit buyers — Full vs. Streamline differences, 2026 loan limits, and what's changed in the program.

09/03/2026

In many divorce settlements, the agreement clearly outlines who will remain in the home.

What is not always addressed with the same clarity is who remains on title after the divorce.

When title is not properly resolved, both parties may still be legally connected to the property long after the case is finalized. That can lead to:

• Continued legal liability tied to the property
• Obstacles when refinancing or selling the home
• Disputes regarding future equity or appreciation
• Exposure to liens or judgments

When title ownership, mortgage debt, and settlement terms are not aligned, the risk of post-decree complications increases.

As a Certified Divorce Lending Professional (CDLP®), I work with attorneys and mediators to analyze the housing implications of settlement decisions — including title structure, mortgage feasibility, and buyout options — before the agreement is finalized.

This type of analysis is a critical part of divorce mortgage planning and helps ensure housing decisions made during divorce are actually sustainable after the divorce.

If you are working through a case involving real property, I’m always happy to collaborate with the divorce team to help evaluate these considerations early in the process.

09/01/2026

A client tells you she just needs to keep the house. It usually arrives before the intake is even finished, and it sounds like a clear instruction rather than a question.

The Divorce Lending Association's September briefing argues that it is the wrong question, and I think the argument is right.

Not because keeping the home is a bad outcome. Because "how do I keep the house" has a binary answer, and a yes gets recorded as a win. The briefing's point is that yes is not one answer. It is at least three:

Yes, you qualify. That is not the same as yes, you can carry it. Yes, you can keep it. Here is what keeping it costs. Yes, and here is what the same dollars would have done instead.

In my experience only the first one gets tested before signing. The other two show up in year two.

The better question the piece proposes is forward-facing: how does this house fit into the life I am about to live? That one does not resolve to a yes or a no. It resolves to a design, and it opens four inquiries that determine whether a settlement holds.

Worth reading if you have housing questions open on a current file. It also covers how to raise the reframe in the room without it sounding like a refusal.

https://divorcebriefings.com/4yedAmL

If you have a file where the housing question is still open, I would rather look at it now than after the decree is entered.

08/27/2026

Possession resolves occupancy. It does not resolve ownership.

In divorce cases involving real property, decree language alone does not eliminate:

• Ongoing title liability
• Exposure to future liens or judgments
• Refinance infeasibility
• Equity distribution ambiguity
• Tax reporting complications
• Long-term “phantom ownership”

When title and mortgage feasibility aren’t evaluated together, the risk doesn’t disappear — it simply becomes tomorrow’s problem.

Family law practitioners who proactively assess title structure before settlement reduce post-decree disputes, failed refinances, and unintended financial exposure.

This month’s newsletter breaks down why title strategy must be addressed alongside settlement terms — not after.

Read it here: https://divorcebriefings.com/4l8kLHV

If real property is part of the case, a forward-looking mortgage and title analysis should be part of the legal strategy.