My mother-in-law is in skilled nursing facility under Medicaid. One of her daughters maintained residence in her home and made the mortgage payments for the last couple years. Now that daughter is moving out. I do not want to make the payments on the house. What is the best option? Don’t want to go through the whole process of having it appraised and sold since my mother-in-law cannot have any money in the bank. Another option is to allow the house to just default payment and the bank to take it over and take care of it. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.
If not, and if there is little equity in the home, you may want to simply let nature take it's course. The home will go to auction eventually as these things work through.
You might want to see an elder law attorney to check out the options here. If there is a lot of equity in the home, and the home could conceivably sell at a good price, then that cash would belong to your MIL in assets, and that's a GOOD thing. She would come down off Medicaid and would have funds to private pay in a better situation until those funds are gone.
I would see an attorney to find out the best options for you. Meanwhile check with a realtor about home value. Hope you'll update us about what you find are best option choices. Good luck.
Put the house up for sale. Keep good records on any out of pocket you incur. I unplugged all the appliances. I had a timer set to a lamp in the living room. Came on at 5, off at 11. I put the thermostate on 55 so the pipes did not freeze. When the house is sold, you should be able to get your out of pocket back. The proceeds will go to Moms care. Medicaid will stop, you spend down and then pick up Medicaid again.
Letting the house go back may also cause problems.
Igloo will see this hopefully and respond. She has a great deal of knowledge.
She sometimes recommends finding real estate agents who are experienced with selling houses where the owners are on Medicaid. She recommends getting inspections for repairs needed that are then given to the appraiser so that the FMV is more accurate than what local comps would indicate the value should be. This would all be arranged by the experienced realtor…if they can be found.
Having an accurate documented FMV would hopefully lead to a quicker sell to someone not needing a loan.
I get it that you are done with all the extra work involved but it might be that finding someone who understands the unique situation you are in and would be willing to manage the work needed to the benefit of you and mom would be the path forward.