Posted by Ken on September 06, 2009 at 19:01:38:
The insurance company answers to their shareholders not the policy holders,they will short you if at all possible.The check will be issued to you and the bank,the bank will require you to sign it and send it to them,they will pay off the mortgage and send you the differene.You will still own the property and the city will require you to remove the debris.
House Fire - Posted by Landlording
Posted by Landlording on September 06, 2009 at 10:44:44:
I have a rental house that burned down two days ago. The house is insured and taxes and insurance are escrowed. I am two months behind on payments. Is there going to be an issue with the insurance company because I am behind?
Thank-you
Re: House Fire - Posted by Ben T
Posted by Ben T on September 07, 2009 at 01:09:13:
I had a house burn down a few years ago. The insurance quickly
assigned a claims adjuster to the case, who came out and looked at
the property and interviewed me. He asked alot of financial questions,
presumably because a financial problem might be a motivation to burn
a house down. Especially if you’re behind a couple of payments.
Following the interview, which was taped, the sent out a “forensic
engineer” to look the house over and determine how the fire started.
Once this was done they issued a check. As I recall, they sent a check
made jointly to the mortgage company and me. They also sent a check
to the city, who held the check as a guarantee that the property would
be cleared away in accordance with the city codes. Once the mortgage
company paid the mortgage off, the balance was sent to me. Once the
debris was cleared, the city sent the check they were hold to me.
At that point I held the lot. In my case I sold the lot to one of the
neighbors.
The insurance company would only have a problem with your failure to
make payments IF the mortgage did not pay for the insurance policy
when it came due. I’d check that out. The other question would be
regarding whether they think you may have some involvement in the
fire. If this turns out to be the case, get a lawyer.
Good luck with it.
Ben
Re: House Fire - Posted by Ken
Posted by Ken on September 06, 2009 at 11:38:56:
The police ay do a more thorough investigation to make sure you did not do it.You may want to hire a public adjuster who will deal with the insurance company for you,they do a good job and generally get you a lot more than you would get on your own
Re: House Fire - Posted by landlording
Posted by landlording on September 06, 2009 at 12:14:41:
Are they not required to pay the amount that the house is insured for?
Let’s say I owe $50k on the house and the house is insured for $100k. How will the money be dispersed and who ends up with the property and the responsibility of cleaning up the mess?
If at all possible I would like to end up holding the piece of land.