Loan Programs
No US credit file, no Social Security number, and no US tax return is not a barrier to owning US rental property. Foreign national and ITIN DSCR programs qualify international investors on assets, international credit references, and the property's own cash flow.
Program terms
- 65–70% LTV on purchase — plan on 30–35% down
- No US credit history or US income documentation required
- 9–12 months of PITIA in reserves, held in a US account at closing
- Close in a US LLC; remote and consular signing accommodated
- ITIN borrowers with a US credit file may qualify on standard DSCR terms
Foreign national and ITIN are not the same program
| Foreign national | ITIN borrower | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical profile | Non-resident, no US presence | US resident, no SSN |
| Credit basis | International references | US credit file, if established |
| Max LTV | 65–70% | 70–75% |
| Reserves | 9–12 months | 6–9 months |
| Rate premium | +75 to +150 bps | +25 to +75 bps |
An ITIN holder who has been building US credit for several years often prices much closer to a standard DSCR file than they expect. If you have an ITIN and a US credit history, it is worth having both programs quoted rather than assuming the foreign national terms apply.
What replaces a credit report
Underwriting substitutes documentation that establishes the same three things a US credit file would — identity, payment history, and capacity.
- Two forms of government photo identification. Passport plus a national identity card or home-country driving licence. Both must be current.
- Two or three international credit references. Letters on institutional letterhead from recognized banks or lenders, showing account type, opening date, and 24 or more months of payment history. Documents not in English require a certified translation.
- Twelve months of bank statements from the home-country institution, translated and, where the balances are in another currency, converted at a documented rate.
- Reserves pre-funded into a US account. This is the requirement most often underestimated. Nine to twelve months of PITIA must be sitting in a US bank at closing — not committed, not in transit, and seasoned 30 to 60 days.
- Source-of-funds documentation for the down payment, satisfying the lender's anti-money-laundering review.
Entity and signing
Most foreign national DSCR loans close in a US LLC. The entity needs articles of organization, an operating agreement, and an EIN — obtainable without an SSN via Form SS-4, though the processing time for a foreign applicant runs longer than the online path available to US persons. Build that into the timeline.
Signing is routinely handled from abroad through a US embassy or consulate, an apostilled notarization under the Hague Convention, or a lender-approved remote online notarization where the borrower's jurisdiction permits it. Confirm which method your lender accepts early — not every lender accepts all three, and the answer determines how long the final week takes.
The tax dimension
Rental income earned by a non-resident from US property is subject to US taxation, and disposition proceeds are subject to withholding under FIRPTA — commonly 15% of the gross sale price rather than of the gain. Structure and treaty position affect both materially.
We finance the acquisition; we do not advise on tax. Engage a US tax professional experienced with non-resident real estate holdings before the entity is formed, because unwinding a structure after the fact is considerably more expensive than setting it up correctly.
Financing US property from abroad
Tell us the target market, your budget, and where your banking sits. We will map the timeline and the documents before you make an offer.
Get a term sheet Call (914) 266-0725Business-purpose loans on non-owner-occupied investment property. Nothing here is tax, immigration, or legal advice. Foreign national program terms vary substantially between lenders and by borrower jurisdiction. Not a loan commitment.