Renters home burnt down, Thought it was insured, but it wasn't, WHAT NOW?

Question

Last weekend one of my Mom's house(s) that she rents out, burned, (she rents out 2) their was a propaine leak. She thought she had fire insurance on them, but when she refinaced, it wasn't carried over. She gets her house payment money from the renting out the homes, she is not sure how she is going to pay her house payment. Is their any help she can get? I am concerned because I live with her and will be moving into the other house.

Thank you for your help.

Answer 1

Bummer.  No one is going to make her house payment for her, except maybe you.  She's going to have to pay for damages herself, to fix the house - or let it  go into foreclosure.

Answer 2

There are websites here on the internet that bring lenders  and borrowers together directly. A person (your mom) goes top a lender and borrows enough money to rebuild or insure and then pays it back directly to this person overtime, no banks involved which means NO INTEREST. Might sound like a scam, but it's legit. Hundreds of people have found success by doing this.

There are many rich people in this country, so rich that they want to give some away. I wish I knew the URL for one but I don't.

Answer 3

I think that a prudent person would know if her properties were insured or not. It's not the bank's fault that the house was uninsured.

If she knew it was a requirement to have insurance to refinance, and she probably did, she should have made sure of it.

If the policy was about to cancel, the insurance company would have notifed the insured and the lender in writing. When the bank received their notice of cancellation, they would have notified your Mom about it, and requested that she get insurance within a certain time-frame. If insurance is not purchased, the bank would have force-placed insurance on the properties.

If the insurance company sent out cancellation notices, they will have a record of it.

If she refinanced at the same bank where it was financed previously, the same policy would have covered it up to the limits in the policy. The bank would have required her to increase the coverage to cover the increase of the mortgage, if increase was needed.

If the properties were already paid off, and this was a "first" mortgage, the lender would not have "transfered" the policy to the new loan. It would have been up to the borrower to purchase insurance, if none existed. If insurance did exist, the bank should have requested a copy of the dec page, with the bank's name as loss payee.

If the bank rep forgot to ask for the insurance, a prudent person would have insured the properties anyway, in case of a loss, which would also cause a loss of income in this case.

I would guess that the policy had already lapsed, unless it was included in the previous payment.

At the closing, the bank rep always goes over the loan agreement, covering all costs, taxes and insurance. If insurance was not listed on the closing statement, she should have recognized that, if the insurance premium was included in the previous payment.

Your Mom should seek legal advice in this case, but I believe that she should take some personal responsibilty.

Best wishes, and God bless.

Answer 4

that just doesn't happen. The lender requires insurance at the time of close and if it was not paid they would have forceplace insurance to cover it. Tell her to look at her settlement statement page 2 from the refi and see if the insueance wasn't carried forward. I'll bet it was.

Mortgage professional.

Answer 5

No shes in trouble, It was not insured then its a loss to you..First answer may have a point but it depends on what Country your from.. In my case I do not have to have it insured except for Death purposes. If I die then its protected by my Mortage insurance, I have to have that insurance. Other insurance is my responsibility not the Finance company...

You said it yourself she was not insured, now all you need to find out is what is written in the contract / deeds to clarify whos in the wrong..

Answer 6

The mortgage lender is required by law to maintain insurance on the home prior to making the loan.  Refinancing is not an exception to this.

Get a lawyer, it sounds like an error on the part of the lender, and it is very possibly actionable.