The Zombie Title: A New Foreclosure Nightmare

 Posted on March 21, 2013 in Bankruptcy

Since the housing collapse of 2007, foreclosures have been occurring rapidly across the nation.  Banks have been accused of lending to those who should not qualify for mortgages.  There is evidence that they have also been up to other shady practices.  Now, in 2013, there is a new horror in the housing market.

Thousands of homeowners are finding themselves trapped by a zombie title.  A zombie title is when homeowners are legally liable for “foreclosed” homes that have literally came back to life.  Banks issued notice of foreclosure only to later decide that it would be too expensive to reclaim the home, in turn transferring the title back to the homeowner.  It is an action that mirrors how homeowners abandoned their mortgages during the housing collapse.

These titles are becoming more prominent in the foreclosure process.  There is no national database to track these zombie titles but lawyers, housing court judges, code enforcement officials and others involved in foreclosures have noticed the increase.

The fallout is pretty devastating to homeowners who move out of their homes when they receive foreclosure notices.  Years from that event, people are having their wages garnished, their credit destroyed and other efforts to collect for repairs done to their homes that they don’t even live in.

If you receive a foreclosure notice on your home, don’t resign yourself to leaving right away.  Your first step should be to contact a legal professional with a background with fighting against foreclosures by filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.  Contact an experienced foreclosure defense attorney in San Antonio to make sure you don’t have a zombie title.