It’s 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, 6th Floor
San Jose, CA 95110
PH: (408) 808-7900 (408) 808-7900
Email: scctax@tax.sccgov.org
Call me today! I may be able to help you save some money. Nidia Nuristani, (408) 836-2457, nidia@hbrealtyinc.com.
