Q: If I get the deed to a home but don’t assume the loan of the deceased borrower, what happens?

A: If you do not have a deed to you and you are not an heir, then the titled owners will probably sue your for possession. If the note is not serviced, or taxes/insurance not paid, then the lender will foreclose. You will not receive notice of the foreclosure as you are not on the note. If there is an Estate, the fiduciary will probably run you out.

A: Your question cannot be answered without additional information about your relationship to the borrower.

Are you a close family member that is inheriting the house? If yes, then you do not need to refinance. You just need to keep making the payments.

Are you a buyer purchasing the home from the estate? If that is the case then the loan will need to be paid off at the closing. If you cannot afford to pay all cash for the purchase price, then you will need to obtain a new loan in your own name.

Regarding insurance, as soon as the decedent passed it was imperative that the insurance be updated. That should have been done already.

A: Mr. Avery and Ms. Whitehurst are correct. I once opened an estate for a lady who lived in her father's house but did not have title. Eventually, the insurance found out that her father was deceased and demanded that she get title to the house or face cancellation of insurance.

Of course, cancellation of insurance constitutes a threat to the lender's collateral, so she had to open an Alabama Estate and transfer the property to herself (with consent of her siblings) in order to get out of hot water with the insurer and then the lender. It was done, and she was very happy, and I was very happy for her.