People are abandoning their homes in Dallas, Fort Worth, and across the nation with alarming frequency. If you’re trying to solve your financial problems, you should fully understand that abandoning a home usually creates more trouble than it resolves. Before taking a drastic measure like abandoning your home, please speak first with an experienced Dallas foreclosure attorney.
During a foreclosure process, which can take up to a year or more, you are still the owner and you must satisfy all of a homeowner’s typical obligations. Even if you move everything from your home and return the keys to the mortgage lender, you are still the homeowner. However, mortgage lenders can take “possession” of a house that you still legally own if you abandon it, and they can shut off the utilities and change the locks. Therefore, if you choose to abandon a home, take everything, because your key may not work when you try to get back in. If you find yourself in that circumstance, do not break and enter. Call the mortgage company, and if they won’t help, contact an experienced Dallas foreclosure attorney immediately.
Something else to consider is homeowners insurance. Even after abandoning a home, you must keep it insured as long as you are the owner. If anyone is injured on your abandoned property – and abandoned properties attract children, criminals, and the homeless – you could face a personal injury lawsuit. Zoning laws apply too. Abandoning a home does not end your responsibility to mow the lawn, fix any broken windows, and generally maintain the property.
Dallas and Fort Worth impose fines on homeowners who fail to meet these obligations. You’ll own your home until a foreclosure sale is confirmed, but abandoning a home is rarely an effective solution to financial problems. If you’re wrestling with overdue mortgage payments and sinking in debt, discuss your circumstances at once with an experienced Dallas foreclosure attorney.
