My 87 year old mother is in the hospital after breaking a hip and is not really able to make decisions any more as she is suffering from memory loss. I am her daughter and as her POA I am taking over her finances. During her hospital stay a pipe burst in her townhome and flooded it to a point that it was condemned. She was supposed to come home from a visit to see family (she no longer drives so takes the train) and because of her fall and subsequent hospitalization, could not. She has no financial assets other than her townhome and has a fair amount of credit card debt. She had a very meager insurance policy on the townhome that is only going to pay for about $10,000 worth of damage (likely the damage will be a lot more). No one in the immediate family has the money to cover the damages and likely she will also have large hospital bills and expensive nursing care coming up. Should the family just turn the keys of her townhome over to the bank? What would be the ramifications to doing that? What are some other options for her? Is there any financial assistance she could apply for?
I was always under the impression that homeowner's insurance covered the cost of rebuilding a dwelling. Thus, I was curious how Mom was able to get a meager policy?
Unless this was some type of co-op apartment that had 2 level townhomes within the building.
At the age of 87, it is time for Mom not to worry about home ownership, real estate taxes, dwelling insurance, breaking water pipes, upcoming assessments where the building plans to replace all the windows, etc.
One suggestion is to meet with an Elder Law Attorney, who can give you ideas on what to do next regarding the damaged townhome. And to see how Mom's finances are for either Assisted Living, if she can be self-pay... or a move into a nursing home unless a family members is willing to take care of Mom at home, and has the time and energy to do so.
Let us know what you and Mom plan to do.
All the debt will stop...her social security and pensions are protected ... the injunction will halt any collections
Since she will likely end up in NH, Medicaid will be involved. There really isn't any reason to worry about her credit.
Find out how much she owed on the property and ask a local realtor how much it could sell for in "as is" condition.
Who "condemned" it.....and what stipulations were made to correct it.? You may get bids to fix to get a clearance to sell it.
Good luck, just a few random thoughts for you.