Belt Auction

lying on financial aid?

this is for a verification packet. for the section about assets they are asking me for the current market value of my parents' real estate property. my father wants me to put 400,000 (which is how much he paid 10 years ago) but i checked it online at zillow.com and supposedly its now double the amount. what should i put? will they actually go online to check?

Public Comments

1. They will double check your answers so you are better telling the truth .
2. If your Dad has property worth $400,000 you will not be getting any grants, just loans so it does not really matter. Since they will only be giving loans, I doubt if they will check. They are much more apt to check when they give you something that you do not have to pay back.
3. Lying on a federal document is a crime and while I doubt they will do any fact checking because regardless of 400,000 or 800,000 you won't be receiving anything but loans anyway the proper thing to do is tell the truth because they have the right to not even offer you loans if you lie.
4. Don't lie on the forms. It may be easier just to contact your school's financial aid office and double check the numbers with a financial aid counselor. They will let you know what all you should and shouldn't do. You may want to do that just so you don't end up getting into trouble later on. Make sure to save any materials they give to you. These can become very good references later on.