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Question

HEZ
Newcomer

HEZ asked about a month ago in Homeowners Insurance

I inherited a small home in PA. needing some work living in SC that's rented out . Where do I get dwelling fire insurance & no credit check?

The insurance company my parents had on it for 50 years 25 miles from Pittsburgh, PA. cancelled me with being vacant though relatives lives next door & other family members check on my furnished home from my dad's passing. I was left with no insurance after sending checks by internet to cover the insurance after I lost my user name & password. They wanted dad to give the okay for me to conduct business EVEN though it's been in my name for 7 yrs.!. He was not able to being in nursing home & dying. I kept calling the insurance company to make sure it was in force. All I got from a place in N.Y. was a run around with my telling them I wanted to pay it before it expired. Because I went to a complaint department from another state where I was sent by the internet, the orignial company in N.Y. said they cancelled me last year in July! What do I do now? I have a family member fixing small things right now but needs painted next summer and eventually replacing copper plumbing. I don' have the money or good credit from job loss over 5 years until last year. The area is VERY run down and poor since Steel Mills went out in the 1980's. MANY homes and businesses are vacant as well as boarded up. Houses can be bought for $5,000-25,000! The area will never return to what it use to be. My house taxes are $2000 a year in Allegheny County with land valued at $19,000 and house $28,000 with basement not fixed up and no garage. I NEED HELP QUICK!

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Mark Kantrowitz
FiLife Contributor
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For insurance in Pennsylvania I recommend Chubb. Their customer service is very good.

You should consider getting an appraisal and filing an appeal with the county on the property taxes to get them reduced.

If you do not believe the house will appreciate much over the next several years, you may be better off selling it (perhaps to the next door relative, or perhaps through a realtor) after a bunch of cosmetic fixes (e.g., trim the landscaping, paint interior neutral colors). If the house is not worth much and is in a depressed neighborhood, you won't be able to recover the money you invest in fixing it.

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