Help me...I need advice

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-25-2006
Help me...I need advice
8
Tue, 04-25-2006 - 11:58am
I owe about $2000 property tax on my house. It has to be paid by May 15. My husband and I were going to use our tax refund to pay it. In the time we were waiting to receive our refund we decided to get a home equity loan to payoff some small credit card debt and to do some much needed home repair. Since we were approved for our home equity loan, when we received our tax refund, I wasn't as worried about how much of it we were spending since I assumed our home equity loan was coming in and we could use some of that to pay our property taxes. Well, the loan fell through and I don't have the money to pay my property taxes. I don't want to lose my home! I have applied for several personal loans and not gotten approved due to poor credit. I have never filed bankruptcy or had a foreclosure, just late payments and collections that really hurt my credit. I haven't even told my husband yet. I am so scared and don't know what to do. I don't have anything else to fall back on, does anyone have any advice for me? I am desperate!!
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 04-25-2006 - 12:07pm

I think the first step is talking to your DH.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2006
Tue, 04-25-2006 - 12:47pm

I'm so sorry Tiffany. I hate it when I count chickens that never hatch! :) Hang in there.

First of all, it will likely take a long, long time for back taxes to cause a foreclosure on your house or any other sort of significant consequence. It's not like the government moves quickly and they don't regularly report to credit bureaus. Take a deep breath and then tell DH what happened. I would then make an immediate phone call to the tax office and find out what your options are and what the various consequences are of delayed payment. I imagine it is likely that they will put you on some sort of payment plan and then you can work to try and get that taken care of. In the meantime, do you want to talk to your mortgage company about paying your taxes to an escrow account? If not that, I would certainly get yourself a little high yield savings account and start paying into it monthly for this bill next year.

Peg

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 04-25-2006 - 1:29pm

I agree with Taleyna and Peg. You are going to have to tell your husband sooner or later, so better to get it off your chest before the stress of holding on to this information makes things worse. Maybe this would be a good time for both of you to sit down and figure out a detailed budget that you two can live with.

I think many states/counties are willing to work with you and set up a payment plan for you. You may pay a stiff penalty for it, but you wouldn't be having to worry about losing your house if you have made arrangements with them. Contact your county's assessors office. And as Peg mentioned, you should also contact your mortgage company and give them a heads up. They may be able to work something out with you also, such as paying the taxes for you and then upping your house payment enough to pay them back with interest.

It may not seem like it now, but the home equity loan not going through may be a blessing in disguise. I personally think that it is better to have credit card balances stay on the credit cards even at higher rates because your house is not securing the credit card loans as it is when you have a home equity line. Also, there is something about the mental part of paying off those credit cards one by one that tends to stick with you more than wiping them out with the home equity line. With a home equity line it is easy to get in the mindset of "we paid off our debt", when all you did in fact was move it, not pay it off.

Anyway, don't feel too bad. You certainly aren't the first person to be in this situation. There are a lot of very supportive people on this board who are all in the same boat of trying to get out of debt and learning to live within our means.

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Tue, 04-25-2006 - 1:34pm

HUGS!


How much money DO you have available?

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-25-2006
Tue, 04-25-2006 - 2:00pm
I know that if you call to make payment arrangements, they will work with you. It's worth a try.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Tue, 04-25-2006 - 4:39pm
I agree with all of the others...most likely you will be able to set up a payment plan. After my mom died, nobody paid the property taxes on my Dad's house (he has health issues of his own and since my siblings were here, I assumed they were taking care of things..) Anyhow, their back taxes were $7200, and I was able to go to the county auditors office and set up a payment plan where the amount would be paid back over four years $150/month.) they were more than happy to do that, so don't worry too much. I think you have options.
So sorry that your loan you were counting on fell through though...that is so frustrating! gOOD LUCK, AND HANG IN THERE! heather
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-09-2004
Wed, 04-26-2006 - 12:02pm

I am a paralegal and used to do foreclosures/tax sales and just to put your mind at ease you will not lose your house immediately if you do not pay your taxes on the 15th. There is a process that the tax office must go through in order to sell your property at a tax sale and it takes several months. I have never seen a tax office unwilling to work with a home owner so definitely call the tax office and you will be able to work out payment arraingments. Good luck!

Janet


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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2004
Fri, 04-28-2006 - 4:20pm

Hello,


My county offers payment plans (I can find the info on the county tax website). I'm sure yours will too. One thing you could do is send *some* of the money due on the property

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

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