Buying a House with Title Issues

[Matt Schelberg]

I am under contract to purchase a nice little rental in Baltimore for 15k...but the title search revealed that NONE of the past 3 owners purchased title insurance, so there are several old judgments on title.  All the judgments are for previous owners.  They total about 5k.

The seller will net only $1,000 at settlement, so he will have insufficient proceeds to pay the outstanding judgments for the old owners.  And I am not willing to raise the purchase price to pay them off.

Some of the judgments are from local governments, so it's unlikely they'd accept a reduced payoff.

I plan to hold this property as a long-term rental.  Am I crazy for considering to buy this thing with the old judgments on title?  The judgments will eventually expire after 12 years if they are not repaid (or renewed)...and the problem will just go away with time (in theory). 

What are the other risks?  Can the lien holders attempt to collect from me while I am holding the property?

And what is this type of transaction called?  "Subject to existing judgments"?  Quit claim deed?