Way to figure out if someone has borrowed against a property?

Question

Is there a way to search local departments to find out if someone has borrowed against a property? An investment partner owns a 1.8 million multi-family (3 units). One unit is rented, the other two are not in good shape. Planning to rehab the two units and sign lease agreements to then refinance and pull money out. I've been doing business with this man for about two deals now, everything has gone well so far. Just wondering if there is a way to figure out if he has borrowed from this property already? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Ellis San Jose · Answer

Do a title search on the property.

Account Closed · Answer

@Marelyn Valdes i ran into the same thing with local title companies . The one in my little home town charges $175 for a O&E report.. So I found http://www.fasttitlesearch.com/index.html that starts at $35 except for two counties where they charge more .. Im guessing they have to send someone to the records dept in those counties .. Anyway check them out and let me know how you like them .. There are more that charge around $49.00-$69.00 ..

Account Closed · Answer

@Alex Cordero, as far as I know ( and please people correct me if I'm wrong ) you should be able to have a title company do a o&e search which is as deep as a search they do for a title they are willing to do title insurance on but without the insurance .. I can get one done here in Florida online in as little as 8hrs to 24hrs for $35.00 which I spend every time when I want to bid on a foreclosure auction .. Only time I've had one come back so far with a hit is a bud property ( which is supposed to be free and clear ) but it came back with a special assessment lien from the city road commission for 5k still owed . Because Hud is supposed to have paid it before marketing I pulled out of the deal because the numbers were tight to begin with and that would have put it over the top , I might have still made money on it but not enough to justify the risk .. Also it was a point I was making with their asset manager who refused to pay it at closing .. I'm still fighting to get my deposite back but I'd rather loose $500 instead of $5000 .. Anyway if you are loaning him the money to do the redab then you could insist on taking a first lien on the property , he may have a foreclosure or something similar on his credit which would stop him from getting a equity loan or maybe he's not that familiar with hard money loans .. Either way if your feeling uncomfortable then do what you must to feel better or pull out of the deal but do yourself a favor and be honest with him just as you hope he is being honest with you  ..I always try to live by that rule and also listen to my gut because it's amazing what you can talk yourself into . Let us know what happends . And let me know if you want to invest in Fix and flips or buy and holds here in Central Florida area .. Just send me a colleage request and we can discuss options and opportunitys .. I wish you the very best and

God Speed ,

Michael Short

Account Closed · Answer

@Alex Cordero yes, greed can be a factor ! but people's situations can change very quickly. One day he or she might be sailing through life then wham ! They find out their spouse is cheating on them, or they get a notice your being investigated by the IRS or they get n a horrific car crash and somebody dies or they get news they have non-operable cancer, I think you get the point . After  this happens sometimes people change and a person you knew to be trustworthy might feel like they have little choice or little to live for ! well , you get the point again . People tend to react to their situations, some people are strong enough to weather the storm, but others cave. I could tell you stories about a so called best friend that changed and cost me over 20k and 2 friends that were partners in a carpet cleaning business years ago and after I built the business up , trained and taught them everything about the carpet cleaning business , they then decided to team up and vote me out . We had it set up that majority ruled in our partnership papers. I didn't loose that much money but I did loose two friends that I consider to be my best friends at the time. So I just want to warn you and everyone who reads this.  I have found the best way to not let friends or partners blurr the line between right and wrong is to have everything in writing and still there is a chance you get burned ! Hell, I even make my family sign a contract if they want to borrow more than $500 . I know it sounds cold but I have had some family members borrow money in the past and even though they had every intention of paying me back their situation changed and paying me back wasn't as high a priority as it was when they borrowed it. If I had every dime I was owed by family members that I have written off as gone I would have about $30k. I'm sure I'm not alone in that and a lot of people have their own stories about family, friends and partners. I hope you don't have a new one. That being said I'm not saying don't invest but just be cautious when you do. It sounds like you are and that's about the best we all can do.

Good luck and God Speed,

Michael S.

Alex Cordero · Answer

Appreciate the feedback Account Closed thanks for the feedback, it was very insightful.

Account Closed · Answer

You can easily go online to search the liens on any property by going to the county Recorders of Deeds office. Not the assessors website. By searching by the persons name and then the legal description of the property.

Mark Holencik · Answer

The title company I use can do a quick search to find these things out.

I just signed an agreement of sale for a property. I am closing in 3 months. I will be using these 3 months to get the property up and running. I did not think there was anything being held back by the owner. I will be investing a lot of time and money before settlement. Just to be safe, I had them do a quick search for any judgements, loans or back taxes. I knew within a half hour.

Alex Cordero · Answer

Account Closed I really appreciate the insight. It allows me to learn how to make sure the correct safeguards are in place to protect my investment in a worst case scenario situation. I know that this particular deal is operating through an LLC which does have other properties tied to it. I did have a conversation with him about unexpected scenarios such as if he were to pass in the middle of the deal. Everything was answered in a way that was clear and made sense. I do trust this partner, but then again, in business I'm always hesitant to provide a full level of trust because I've seen greed can get the best of anyone.

Marelyn Valdes · Answer

Account Closed - thanks for the information!  I am not doing any searches right now, but sure will try them in the near future.

Way to figure out if someone has borrowed against a property?

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