In Danger of Losing Your Home? Homestead Recording Service Can Help.

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 16, 1999--

You never thought it could happen to you.

You purchased a home, calculated your budget, but you just never expected things to go the way that they did. Suddenly, through job loss, illness or other financial hardship, you find yourself besieged by creditors and in danger of losing your home. Catastrophe hit so swiftly it left you dizzy with confusion. What do you do now?

Know your rights.

Under the homestead laws in Texas, homeowners can file for immediate protection status that will legally safeguard their homes from being seized in creditor proceedings. The name of the law is Designation of Homestead and can help safeguard homeowners from a forced sale of their property in situations like bankruptcy, creditor's liens and lawsuits.

Because the Texas state legislature recently made changes to a "Homestead Tax Exemption" law, homeowners could easily be confused into thinking they are protected from creditors when they are not.

"Designation of Homestead," and the "Homestead Tax Exemption" law perform two separate functions. In an effort to help better protect homeowners, legislature recently linked these two laws so that homeowners who file for a Homestead Tax Exemption will "automatically" become eligible for the Designation of Homestead protection.

What homeowners might not understand is, it could take anywhere from 10 months to TWO YEARS for this protection to go into effect.

Filing the Designation of Homestead separately and promptly when your home becomes vulnerable to creditors immediately gives you the protection you NEED. That is why it is important to protect your home NOW. Unfortunately, not all of the forms are readily available and it can cost a lot of money to have a lawyer do this for you. That is where Homestead Recording Service can help.

Not only does Homestead provide the service of filling out and filing the necessary paperwork at a nominal fee ($25 to prepare the documents and $22 to file them in local circuit court), they have even, in cases of extreme hardship, waived these service fees in order to help people.

In a world where most companies view people as no more than squiggly lines on their profit and loss charts, this act speaks volumes in the interest of the homeowner.

George and Connie Strebler, an elderly couple that was recently in danger of losing their home, is only one example of Homestead's determination to make people come FIRST.

"We are very grateful that they would do this for us without (charging) a fee," the Streblers wrote in a thank you letter to the company last May.

Homestead Recording Service, who can be reached at 800/400-1693, has staged an ongoing campaign the past few years to inform homeowners of the laws protecting their homes. It is important to know that in times of financial hardship, you have a place you can count on to lay your head at night.

Why not let Homestead Recording Service help?

by Denise Leahy