If you know me, you know that I don’t like to see people get ripped off or taken advantage of.
A few days ago, I had posted a video about this, calling it, “a barrage of shit”…because that is what it is.
Today’s post is going to talk about all of the “mail” you get after you buy a house and what you should do with it. My PSA announcement for today!
First, when you buy a home, it becomes public record. There are companies out there, who buy this public information and then try to sell you junk like mortgage life insurance, or warranties, etc. They make it seem like it actually came from the mortgage company that you just closed with…and most cases they even use the same logo etc. It is VERY deceiving. VERY.
The WORST scam though, is the one that says that it is a “Homestead Recording Service” that looks so official, even I have to look twice at it!! They make it look like it came from the the State Capitol and that it is an official form. Then these fuc&*rs charge you to file your Homestead!! Anywhere between $150-$300+ to do this!
For those of you who don’t know what the homestead exemption is, let me explain. In Texas, if a home is your primary home, you can file what is called a homestead exemption on your home that takes down the taxable value of the house so that your taxes are lower. There are also some legal bits that it does, but for the purpose of this blog, we are not going to talk about the legality right now!
Read this carefully:
The Homestead Exemption is FREE to record!!! FREE to mail in. FREE to fill out.
You do it yourself. You download the free form on your county’s website, fill it in and mail it. For FREE!! No change. Nada. Zip! Zero. Except for the cost of a stamp.
I have had so so many of my clients unfortunately fall for this scam. Old and young, educated and not…there are many who have fallen prey to this crap company that sends these notices out. It should be illegal.
In our industry, we need to do a better job of educating our clients so that people know this information. So there you go!
Bottom line: When in doubt, check with your mortgage loan officer if a piece of mail looks suspect. The rest of the stuff…throw it out!! JUNK.
I am going to post the direct links to some of the country homestead forms.
You can just click on the county and it will bring you to the link to the form directly.
