I have 2 houses on a contract collection account but I don't own them yet. How do I file

[simmonskj]

I pay taxes on both homes

[Carl]

If you are not listed as an owner on the title of the house, you have nothing to claim on it. If there is a mortgage on the house and your name is not on the mortgage, you have nothing to claim for that either. In order to claim things like mortgage interest paid, property taxes paid, and the such, you must have a "legal" obligation to pay them. The fact you may pay those things is irrelevant if you don't have a "legal" obligation to do so. From what I'm understanding in your post, you have no legal obligations on the property(s) yet.

If these properties are ones that "you" are foreclosing on, you'll have nothing to claim until the process is completed in the courts. Then its possible you'll be able to claim those things as your costs of foreclosure or repossession. If the expenses are incurred in 2016 and the process doesn't complete until 2017, it's no problem to claim those 2016 expenses on your 2017 taxes.