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Abandoning a piece of real estate or property

On Behalf of | Feb 7, 2020 | Firm News

A lot of times, a property owner may want to abandon their property. They may do this because they want to eliminate some liability for that property or because that property has defaulted in mortgage. According to Cornell Law School, it may be a property where the taxes are too high or may need a lot of work to renovate. 

By walking away from a property, the owner or the resident may feel like a lot of those liabilities are going to be left with the property. In some cases, this might be true. However, keep in mind that just because you walk away from the house does not mean that the bank automatically takes it back. The property is still going to be titled in that borrower’s name. As far as anybody knows, that owner is  still the resident of that property. 

According to Legalmatch, there is no difference between walking away from a property and going on a long vacation. No one is going to change the liability of that property unless there is some intentional or positive step of transfer of the ownership. So, it may not be good enough just to send a letter to the bank to say you are gone . They might not want to accept the property because they will be on the hook for taxes, insurance and damage repairs. 

So, you may want to send a certified letter and get some kind of legal conveyance from you to the bank. If the owner does not pay the taxes, they may accrue. More importantly, if there is damage, repairs or some type of maintenance, the property may reduce in value. 

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