What Happens If You Don't Pay Your Property Taxes In California

Its tough times and many people are not paying their property taxes hoping next month or next year will be financially better at which point they can catch up.  Well these tough financial times, call for drastic measures which banks are now taking.
Any unpaid property taxes become delinquent after June 30.  The county will  assess a $30 redemption fee in addition to 1.5% interest PER MONTH until paid.  If you property taxes are not paid for 5 years, the county has the power to sell your property at public auction.

To make matter worse, one of the stipulations of your mortgage deed of trust requires you to keep your property taxes up to date otherwise foreclosure will be triggered.  With a growing number of mortgage delinquencies, there are also a growing number of tax delinquencies.  Banks are now regularly monitoring outstanding tax bills and PAYING THEM.  My experience has been that at approx. 2 years of delinquency lenders will pay the outstanding bill. 

What does this mean for you?  Your lender pays the taxes, and then adds them to you monthly mortgage payment in addition to collecting up to 1 year of future property installments.

Example: Your property taxes are $6,000 per year.  You are 1 year delinquent.  Your lender will take 1 year of $6,000 in delinquent taxes and add 1 year of $6,000 in futures taxes = $12,000 adding them to your monthly mortgage bill over the next 12 months.  $12,000 divided by 12 months is $1,000 that will be added to your monthly mortgage payment for the next year.

If you’re having trouble paying your taxes, contact your local Tax Collector or lender for help.

Santa Clara County Tax Collector’s Office
70 West Hedding Street
East Wing, 6^th Floor
San Jose, CA 95110
PH: (408) 808-7900
Email: scctax@tax.sccgov.org

If you are having trouble staying current with your mortgage, call me today so that I can may explain options available to you to avoid foreclosure. Nidia Nuristani (408) 836-2457, Nidia@HBRealtyInc.com

What Does the IRS Say About a Short Sale

After the completion of a short sale on your primary residence, your lender will typically issue a 1099-C which cancels or forgives the debt.
The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 will typically allow you to discharge canceled debt from your principal residence from a short sale completed in 2007 through 2012.

To verify this information, you should consult your tax attorney, CPA, tax account or the IRS at 1-800-829-3676.

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=179414,00.html

What is a HAFA Short Sale

The acronym stands for Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative.  It is a government sponsored program that helps borrowers to quickly sell their home by giving them pre-approved short sale terms before listing the property.  Borrowers are fully released of any liability from 1^st mortgage debt and are eligible to receive up to $3,000 in relocation assistance.

For more information, call or email Nidia (408) 836-2457, Nidia@HBRealtyInc.com

Short Sales Up 128 Percent in 2010

Results for the first nine months of 2010 are in and Fannie Mae had a 128% increase in short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure over the same period in 2009. Freddie Mac fared only slightly better, with short sales and deed-in-lieu transactions up 115% over 2009's totals.

In addition, it's evident that delays caused by this fall's robo-signing scandal have temporarily eased the pressure on distressed homeowners.  Foreclosure filings in nearly every state were halted by most of the mega banks like Bank of America and Chase while internal investigations were conducted.  Foreclosures had barely resumed again when many halted procedures for the end of the year holiday season.  A massive foreclosure filing backlog more than likely be the result for the first quarter of 2011.

Source: shorsaledailynews.com