Mortgage Company Holding insurance premium payment til repairs made
I am 70 years old and not in good health and do not know what to do to get my problem solved.
My home was damaged by Hurricane Irma
Damage estimate: $7500
My deductible was high: $13,200
So I will NOT be getting any money to make repairs. I am on SS and do not have the money to make ALL the repairs listed by the insurance adjuster at one time.
I have made a few – Like clearing the trees and replacing broken windows
I then received mail from my mortgage company who holds the escrow account for my insurance premium payments which are due mid November. They said they will hold my insurance premium (due mid Nov) until the repairs are made.
Again I can NOT make all the repairs right now and the premium is due in two weeks and IF they don’t send the premium payment to the insurance company they will cancel me and that will cause even more problems: getting new insurance etc etc.
I applied to FEMA but they said they do NOT cover the type of damage and only deal with personal property (??). They referred me to the SBA to get a loan to repair the damage but that was denied for poor credit rating.
Please someone give me solid advice as TO get this resolved.
I feel for you, I just got done writing an email dealing with my insurance company and the roofer. I have made about 30 calls to the insurance company in order to get my claim paid. My home was also damaged by Irma.
There are not many options available to you. If I found myself in your shoes, I would pay the insurance out of pocket. It is probably less than most of your repairs and then you can repair the items as you are able.
The other option is to sell the house.
Frankly I am unsure why anyone would retire while they have a mortgage. Perhaps if they excessive assets in relationship to the mortgage, but that does not sound like your situation.
It sounds like you also own too much house. Should a person in your financial situation live in a ~660K house? Perhaps you can downsize and buy something for cash reducing your expense and risk.
Also, for others, it always best (if you have a mortgage) to do your own escrow. That way you don’t run into this kind of situation. Also you can achieve the maximum discount on property taxes that is offered in FL. I just paid my a few days ago, getting a 4% discount where most escrow companies will pay them only when they are due resulting in no discount.