In synopsis:
电视人询问了一个 LA County assessor. The assessor reiterated that the house owners had to pay property tax regardless of the situation. PT 是根据房子和下面的土地面积计算. 房子 burned down, the house assessment value is reduced to ZERO but the land assessment remains the same. Unfortunately, the land assessment value accounts for two-third of the property tax in general. 所以房子烧了, 地税减低了, 但还是要交.
The good news is that the house owner can rebuild the house up to 120% of its original size without an impact on the original PT. The property tax will be recalculated, however, if the rebuilding house area exceeds the 120% threshold.
Mortgage:
Unfortunately, the house owners still have to pay it off. A deal is a deal. The house owners are not off the hook because their houses are destroyed. What the affected house owners can do is to negotiate with the mortgage company to postpone the payment due to financial difficulty. The mortage companies spare the house owners jail time (kidding) with forbearance.
Good luck to deal with the insurance company
