If you lost your home in a wildfire, what happens to your mortgage and property tax?
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- If you are among the thousands of Los Angeles County residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed in the Palisades or Eaton wildfires, there is a grim reality beyond the loss of property alone: Your mortgage is still due.
So is a large portion of your property tax.
Nexstar's KTLA spoke with Los Angeles County Tax Assessor Jeff Prang on Monday about the real estate implications of losing a home to a wildfire. It is a mix of good news and bad.
“We’re going to reduce your assessment and your property taxes,” says Prang. “Unfortunately, this reduction doesn’t apply to the land.”
While the value of the house itself may be reduced to zero if it’s a total loss, in Southern California, the land itself is likely worth more. Possibly much more. For an average home in the wildfire zones, Lazarus notes that two-thirds of the property's assessed value is the land, not what was built on it.
Prang encourages fire victims to register for Misfortune and Calamity Tax Relief through the assessor's website to get the process started.
Regarding the mortgage, Lazarus says, unfortunately for fire victims, "a deal is a deal." He equates losing a home in a wildfire to having a new car stolen the day after driving it off the lot.
"You're still on the hook for the financing payments," he says.
Lazarus recommends fire victims contact their mortgage server to work out a deferred payment schedule, which could potentially delay payments for months or even years.
"But ultimately, you will have to pay for that loan," he says.