Are there any Aid Agencies that might help delinquent owners?

This one is top of the list for our foreclosures due to a county property tax foreclosure this coming November. Either the county forecloses or we pay the taxes and then we foreclose.

Owner is legitimately disabled due to an accident. Home is owned free and clear, no mortgage. No liens except our HOA and the county. Local aid agencies are already paying his water and electricity.

There has got to be someplace to turn. I seriously don't want to put this guy on the streets over this.

Any ideas?

The county said it will allow any current lien holder to pay the outstanding taxes to stop the tax foreclosure.

The thought of the Board was to have the HOA file a lien then pay the outstanding property taxes to stop the county tax foreclosure. Then have the HOA foreclose its lien.

My thought as a 2nd option was to place a lien but let the county foreclose. Then at the public auction HOPE the sale price is bid up high enough to cover the outstanding dues owed. My guess is this might work. No other liens on the property and no mortgage. It is owned free and clear. Property taxes are $4,700 and that is what the county starts the bidding at. Dues owed are $1,000. The house is valued at around $55,000. So there is a pretty good chance it will be bid up high enough.

But this was all before we knew about his disability.

The owner is legitimately disabled due to an auto accident. I did confirm this. He is living off of aid from local churches and other local aid agencies. He is attempting to get on SSI disability but it is still pending. Put they are only covering his utilities and he hasn't been able to get any assistance with the property taxes.

I am just wondering if there are other agencies outside our locale that might be willing to pick something up like property tax relief?

I would think the county lien trumps the HOA lien anyway, so you may not have to do anything. In our state, tax liens are sold at auction and the homeowner has a year to pay the buyer and keep the house, so that's one way for him to buy a little time.

It may be his finances may not be enough to keep him in the house - see if there's a consumer credit counseling agency in your area that can assist him with setting up a budget to pay down medical bills and perhaps credit cards to free up cash to take care of the HOA dues. He should stick with the non-profit agencies (your local United Way may be able to give you some referrals)

We've had this happen in our community (sadly, the homeowner lost the home because she just didn't have the income to pay all the bills). Unfortunately, I think this may the sign of things to come - the bad economy ripped apart everyone's savings and our nation is getting older - if all you have is Social security or disability, even owning the home free and clear won't help because you still have property taxes, insurance, assessments and other housing costs to deal with

And sadly, that's also a reality for many delinquent owners. They get letters, but say nothing until a nastygram from the Association attorney or a summons to go to court. Even then, some won't go to court and explain themselves - it's as if they think the Board will back down because there are too many delinquencies already and theirs will slip past, but a good board doesn't work that way.

I'm treasurer of my association and I take no pleasure in recommending to our board that we foreclose on anyone and it's when we get to that point that we usually find out about someone relying only on social security or something else. However, our association's budget is based on what it costs to run it and fund reserves and one thing I learned quickly about homeownership is that it isn't cheap and prices do go up. You have to make sure your budget can cover these expenses and if it can't then you may have a heavy decision to make.

In the meantime, we've told our homeowners about payment plans and listed resources for homeowners facing foreclosure a number of times in the newsletter, but it seems no one pays attention. It really isn't our job to guess why someone's not paying - unless and until I'm told otherwise, I have to treat them the same way any other creditor deals with people who don't pay

It's likely he never told the case worker. I would call the dept of human services directly and let them know this guy is going to loose his paid for house for unpaid taxes immediately. And tell them the rest of the situation. He may not have been telling the case worker the truth. It happens.