Why? I guess because OP's FIL is well off, he could have been generous and paid for college. But, if he wasn't going to pay beyond a certain amount for education, a flexible loan from family can be really helpful for a student. My parents didn't have enough money to help with college. But, they stretched (and I'm pretty sure borrowed) to put together a couple thousand dollars to pay the travel and program fees for me to study abroad because that amount was above what my aid package covered and what I could borrow for that semester, per financial aid office guidelines. I couldn't have had that life-changing experience without their help. It was definitely a loan, and I paid them back at the low end of market interest rates within three years.
It's different if the parents can't afford to pay, that's not the case here. They've been paying his father money at MARKET RATES since they were married. There is an ugh factor here for me, I don't really care what anyone feels about it, sorry.
It's different if the parents can't afford to pay, that's not the case here. They've been paying his father money at MARKET RATES since they were married. There is an ugh factor here for me, I don't really care what anyone feels about it, sorry.
I get that. It's not what I would do, but FIL could have made a lot more money investing money than lending at market rates. And, presumably OP borrowed from him because they couldn't get the loan elsewhere or because it had other advantages - she mentioned flexible repayment in an emergency and saving money on PMI just in this post. Regardless of FIL's personal wealth, he was doing them a favor to lend them the money. He could have been far more generous, but that doesn't negate the help he's given. It feels weird defending the rich FIL here, but I just don't see that he did anything wrong or what the ick factor is. They knew the terms upfront, and he presumably saved them lots of money on PMI. Thanks, FIL.
The ugh factor to me is that a father is keeping his son and his family beholden to him and in more debt than necessary, particularly for student loans. The home loan is one thing, but the student loan just ups the skeeviness for me. It doesn't for you and we don't have to see eye to eye on the ugh factor lol. I'm okay with that.