Understanding: Take Over Payments

[nothon]

I've been recently looking for a new place to live for the next year and on Craigslist there have been ads of homes that are in danger of being foreclosed, but they can be saved by take over payments? I don't quite understand this. Could it be a trap? Like I would, in a sense, 'own' the home and have to put it under my name and pay it off or would I be renting it while it's being paid off?

Any help on understanding this please?

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/apa/1068761906.html Something like that. I've read other ads with 'take over payments' and I don't quite understand the liability they'd be putting me through. All I want is a place to live! lol

 

[sactoking]

Post removed from CL.

In general, take-over financing is attractive when the existing loan is at below market rates. Take-over, when done properly, is not a scam. In fact, it's riskier for the seller, since they remain liable for the payments should the new owner default.

 

[BoomerD]

A quick search of CL-San Diego finds several "take over payments" ads...worded like this:

Available Now
We have many homes going into foreclosure in your area, in fact, all over the nation.
The prior owners of these homes could not afford the monthly payments to the bank.
What we can help you do is take over the monthly payment,
and the title/ownership of the home will be transfered into your name
and the home will become yours, but the loan can remain in the original owner's name.
I have many properties that are available in the surrounding area.
To inquire please call us so that we can go over the details with you and get you registered today.

we also have listings of other properties in the area.


I'd be VERY skeptical of such a thing. Sounds like a scam to me.

We've had a couple of similar scams here locally. People lost their houses, "buyers" lost all their money paid, perpetrators went to jail.

If the loan doesn't transfer into your name...you're getting set up to get fucked IMO.

 

[growled]

It's win/win situation for the one assuming the loan. If the loan is not in your name, if you bail then the bank goes looking for the one whose name is on the loan. The main thing this does is to save the banks who stand to lose money if they have to take over the houses and resell them at today's lower prices. This also saves the current loan owner from having his credit ruined.