Home foreclosure across the country — and certainly in Texas — has been a hot-button topic for several years now, with foreclosure-related stories beginning to surface prominently following the housing collapse and so-called Great Recession that first began picking up steam a handful-plus of years ago.
Fallout from the economic hard times of recent years has been adverse and widespread, with millions of homeowners nationally facing lofty — and, in many instances, flatly insuperable — financial challenges.
Those challenges have often left residential property owners in dire straits, unable to make timely payments on their homes and falling deeper into debt as their mortgage exactions increase.
Adding to that woe for high numbers of homeowners in Texas and across the country has been a drop in their property values at the same time that their mortgage debt is increasing.
That one-two punch has left many property owners in so-called “underwater” status and simply unable to continue handling their mortgage. Foreclosure has often been the result.
In some instances, former homeowners remain on the proverbial hook even after a lender has foreclosed on them and subsequently resold the property. That can happen when the resale amount is less than what the homeowner owed the lender.
That difference in amount is commonly termed a “deficiency.” It bears noting that states differ in their laws regarding such shortfalls and whether lenders can seek to collect a deficiency from ex-homeowners following a foreclosure and sale.
In Texas, and with a limited exception, they can, pursuant to a deficiency judgment.
There are rules regarding the process, of course, as well as applicable timelines involved, which are described in an online overview of post-foreclosure deficiency judgments in Texas.
An experienced Texas debt relief attorney can explain the law to an interested person and advocate diligently on his or her behalf to contest a deficiency judgment.