There's a new kind of distressed home that's on the rise in Texas -- a "zombie property."
The term isn't new. It used to refer to homes often purchased by rich people who were speculating, buying houses and just letting them sit there, appreciating in value until the speculative wealthy buyers were ready to sell.
Now, though, the "zombie" term is a little darker. It often refers to a home or property in which the original owners have walked away because they couldn't afford the mortgage any longer, or because the house was descending in value as the mortgage payments rose.
Real estate expert Cliff Freeman remembers "in the past it meant properties that were just vacant and people just never moved in or never turned the lights on or whatever.
But now, especially in Texas, "zombie properties" are usually those in which the owners or mortgage holders have given up on expecting to pay for the home.
The number of these homes, while not overwhelming, is on the rise -- and there's one aspect of this story that can be scary, besides the images of homes just sitting, month after month, dark and musty with the paint peelling.
It could be a little scary for people who've given up their home and walked away, but after the bank started the foreclosure process on the property, that process was halted for any number of reasons.
In those cases, the property sits there but it remains in the name of the owners or mortgage holders, not the bank or the mortgage loan entity. In other words, people who have walked away from paying for the home are still on the deed and are still liable for the property.