Unpaid property taxes are just one of the reasons that NY homeowners are losing their homes. Check out some of the other reasons, and what you can do to prevent losing yours…
Storms
2017 is already proving to be an epic year for natural disasters. All while many New Yorkers are still dealing with the impacts of superstorm Sandy, five years later. Some still haven’t received insurance payouts, and may not. Others have had property taken over by authorities. It is very important to not only keep your home well protected in case of a storm, but to have a good insurance provider, an attorney to back you up, and cash reserves to cover the gaps.
Foreclosure
The most common reason for foreclosure is missed mortgage payments. As many as 1 in every 623 properties was still in foreclosure in New Jersey in August 2017, according to RealtyTrac. Foreclosure auctions, new foreclosure filings, and bank repossessions all rose in August too. Many more properties are still delinquent and are waiting for default notices. Things have changed a lot when it comes to being late on your mortgage. Big banks and loan servicers are no longer as motivated to help borrowers. They are new more interested in shifting bad loans off their books in bulk to someone else. As detailed in many episodes of the DistressedPro Professional Podcast, smaller funds and note investors are buying up this debt with the hope of either getting borrowers back on track, or foreclosing and taking control of the property themselves. These new note holders and their servicers want to make a decision on what they will do with the property and loan very quickly. They need to know if they will speed through foreclosure and get the home back. Or if they can help the owner get back on track with their loan and stay on track with a better arrangement. Sometimes they’ll reduce the balance owed, slash back fees and interest, and cut the rates and monthly payment. This makes it vital for New York homeowners to look out for notices, and act quickly when new lenders reach out. Don’t judge them based on the last one. Many are efficient and truly want to help. Communicate and see what they can offer you.
Breaching Loan Agreements
Mortgage loan documents are hefty. They have tons of different rules and provisions in them. Break them, and you could find yourself in big financial trouble. This includes moves that may substantially devalue the lender’s collateral, transferring the title to the property, failing to keep up with insurance payments, and not living in a home you claimed would be a personal residence. Some of these factors can trigger criminal cases. Others may allow the lender to call your entire loan balance due immediately, or fall into foreclosure.
Fraud
Real estate and mortgage fraud just keeps growing. Some of our biggest banks and mortgage lenders have repeatedly been involved in fraud scandals. Now every single Yahoo email account has been hacked, and all Equifax credit records may have been hacked. That leaves homeowners open to a wide variety of fraud threats. This includes criminals taking out home loans in their names, or stealing their identities and selling homes from underneath them. This makes it vital to have some sort of ID and credit monitoring service, and not to ignore notices in the mailbox.
Past Due Property Taxes
New Yorkers still continue to lose their homes at auction for unpaid property taxes each year. Sometimes the balances are big and hard to catch up with. In other cases, some have lost their homes for just a couple of dollars in overlooked fees. What’s really tragic is that many are losing their homes in this way based on incorrect and over inflated tax bills. A local property tax expert can help review your assessment and bill, and get them lowered.
Summary
There are many reasons NY homeowners are still losing their homes. It is tragic when it is unnecessary. However, there are also many ways in which property owners can avoid this, stay alert, and fight back too.