How do I find out who owns a foreclosed property?
Accountant · Buford, GA · Member since 2015 · 6 posts · 4 votes
There's a house around the corner from my parents' house that's been abandoned for several years. I'm interested in buying it, so I looked up the tax assessor's records to see who owns it. The record shows the owner as the woman who bought it in 2005, but I'm pretty sure the house has been foreclosed on. The neighbors on both sides told me it's foreclosed and there are papers posted in the windows stating the property is abandoned. Minor repairs have also been made to the property over the last six months(according to the neighbors). That being said, the property has not been put up for sale. So, if it is owned by a bank, how do I contact those who could sell me the property?
I bought foreclosed houses from REO banks. Although they foreclosed on the property some time back, the local record still did not reflect the change. Only after the auction sale did they record the deeds, one from the foreclosed owner to the bank, and the second deed recorded from the bank to me, all dated on the same date after the sale to me. I know the bank foreclosed on it 2 years before the sale to me.
In fact, the deeds were meant to be recorded the same day, so in the event my deed (2nd one) is recorded before the 1st one (foreclosed owner to bank) , my deed list the name of the REO bank, the grantor, as "XYZ Bank, deed to be recorded..". That's why I knew the local records did not reflect the bank as legal owners for at least 2 years.
I read in the local papers of this controversy, as recently as this year, about zombie homes, where the foreclosing bank would not record change of ownership because they don't want to be responsible for liabilities as legal owners of the property such as slips and falls, squatters being injured. I haven't followed up on it, but in neighboring counties to NYC, there's been proposals that when banks foreclosed on properties, this should go onto a registry so the county knows who to contact if a problem arose. This would not have been necessary if the local records have the real owners name.
@Lindsay West 2 ways, first is free the 2nd will cost you a little. 1) Those papers in the windows usually have a number of the property management thats servicing the home, or the realty company that will be or has listed the property as a REO sale. The 2) Copy down the address and call or go to your nearest title company and order a title search. That will have all the info on it and ultimately who currently owns it. It may be a couple hundred bucks for the search, but youll have all the info you need.
Hope that helps
If the local records say the individual still owns it, then they do! The papers indicate it is In the foreclosure process. The bank can't sell it to you now because they don't own it, and wouldn't talk to you if they did. It will be listed at some point after they take it back, maybe the papers in the Windows will lead you to the agent that may eventually list it.
Why not just call the owner of record? There are lots of reasons it may be abandoned, and the owner (even if it's an estate) may be happy to give it to you for a small price. Just call. :)
I bought foreclosed houses from REO banks. Although they foreclosed on the property some time back, the local record still did not reflect the change. Only after the auction sale did they record the deeds, one from the foreclosed owner to the bank, and the second deed recorded from the bank to me, all dated on the same date after the sale to me. I know the bank foreclosed on it 2 years before the sale to me.
In fact, the deeds were meant to be recorded the same day, so in the event my deed (2nd one) is recorded before the 1st one (foreclosed owner to bank) , my deed list the name of the REO bank, the grantor, as "XYZ Bank, deed to be recorded..". That's why I knew the local records did not reflect the bank as legal owners for at least 2 years.
I read in the local papers of this controversy, as recently as this year, about zombie homes, where the foreclosing bank would not record change of ownership because they don't want to be responsible for liabilities as legal owners of the property such as slips and falls, squatters being injured. I haven't followed up on it, but in neighboring counties to NYC, there's been proposals that when banks foreclosed on properties, this should go onto a registry so the county knows who to contact if a problem arose. This would not have been necessary if the local records have the real owners name.
To add to the above post, here's an update of the status of legislation on zombie homes. According to the article: Zombie Home article Zombie houses are those that are in the foreclosure process and have been vacated by their owner but banks have not taken title.
Banks will not take title due to the legal obligations it entails, thus leaving title in the name of the owners who abandoned the property if you check the local records. Try suing a foreclosed bankrupt owner for a slip and fall.
According to this, New York State now maintains this registry, and presumably will tell you who to contact with reference to the property. There's a toll free hotline to report, located in the article, but does not tell if you can obtain information.
I would get in touch with the owner of record and they can tell you who their bank is if indeed the bank has taken it back.
If the local records say the individual still owns it, then they do! The papers indicate it is In the foreclosure process. The bank can't sell it to you now because they don't own it, and wouldn't talk to you if they did. It will be listed at some point after they take it back, maybe the papers in the Windows will lead you to the agent that may eventually list it.
Wayne has it right. Those papers indicate the mortgagor has stopped paying. The lender sent someone out to inspect the property and found it abandoned, so they've taken steps to protect their interest. But they haven't actually foreclosed on the property yet.
So the bank doesn't own it yet and can't sell it to you. It'll be auctioned off on the first Tuesday of some month. Here's the Georgia process. Lists are available for when various homes will be foreclosed on and when. (Why does it often take a bank months between when papers go in the window and when it finally gets auctioned? Great question. Could be, they're negotiating with someone to try to get it current - maybe the borrower, maybe an estate.)
Up till then, you can try to contact the owner of record and work out something to buy it from them and pay off the lienholder. There are numerous members on here who do that via direct mail or trying to reach out by phone or visit and could give you info about that. But I think the generally successful approach is to try volume. If you focus in on just one property, your odds are pretty low. You've got to diversify your efforts in order to have a good chance of getting one under contract.
Why does it often take a bank months between when papers go in the window and when it finally gets auctioned? Great question. Could be, they're negotiating with someone to try to get it current - maybe the borrower, maybe an estate.
Great question
I had a chat with the officer from the REO bank that sold me the house at auction. The bank had it for two years.
Turned out a builder put up for houses, finished in 1986, wanted $399K. Unfortunately the market started a correction, starting in 1986, and went to a full crash by 1990. He rented the houses out, but gave up in 1990, the banks took over. The builder took out four $300K mortgages from 4 different banks, and defaulted on all. There's outstanding liens on each property.
I know in 1992, these houses go for $275K to $300K. As to the previous owner, story was, he left town or in hiding. The bank's been trying since 1990 to at least get $300K outstanding on the mortgage loan back had no luck..
When I was doing REO's, I would contact the REO bank or their agents to see what's available. That was the most efficient way of doing it, In my case wasn't till June 1993 that they made up their minds to auction it off. They were hoping for the market to improve but it didn't. There's no way to get hold of the owner, and the bank would not be selling till they're good and ready.
My wife was a VP of a loan company and they have procedures in place to prevent fraud in such cases. I worked at a finance company for a while doing workouts, and they don't have strict procedures in place, so borrowers would offer cash bribes to me to do loan workouts. So for an REO, someone can offer me $10K cash bribe to sell him something for $200K less, if I have the authority.
BTW, I paid $200K at auction for my house.
There's another way to make a bank move. A buyer was at the auction that I was at observing. There's another house in the group of 4 still in foreclosure. He approached the REO bank and offered them $150K cash and the bank took it, from what I'm told, made up their minds in a day.
I had since spoke to the 3 other owners of the foreclosed properties, all of whom bought the property from the REO banks, and none contacted the owner or was able to contact the owner.
There's a house around the corner from my parents' house that's been abandoned for several years. I'm interested in buying it...The record shows the owner as the woman who bought it in 2005, but I'm pretty sure the house has been foreclosed on....
Whoever is paying the property taxes for the building usually either controls or has some ownership interest in the building. It would be rare for the lady to continue paying taxes on the building if she was foreclosed on...those being foreclosed on often can be psychologically unstable and volatile... paying property taxes usually is no where on their radar.
Hi Lindsay, Have you also checked the tax records to see if the property taxes are current? If the taxes are current and the owner of record is the 2005 purchaser, there is a good chance that she is still the owner of the property. You can also check who holds the mortgage (if any). I'm pretty good at tracking these things down, so if you need any additional help please feel free to contact me.
My experience with property and tax record as follows:
1. The county clerks office maintains the records of ownership. The foreclosing bank would have to deed the property to itself, which I understand most don't do under the circumstances.
2. Tax records are maintained by a separate department both in NYC and Nassau County that I own properties. I had the fortune of paying off the mortgages, and my understanding is I'll be paying from here on in. I waited, got no notices, no bills, called them, Then I'm told I should have notified them that the mortgages are paid, and they need paperwork form me to change the bill to party. Banks don't notify them. They have the name of the owner, the bill to party, which normally is the bank. Told that it's not the bank's responsibility to notify them of the change but mine.
So if you check the tax records, if the bank continues to pay the taxes, it will show taxes being paid. If the bank doesn't pay, it will show delinquent taxes. So the way the county handles the records, I can't see how you can tell the real owner of record, and who is really paying the taxes. I doubt the owner would be paying the tax bill either, or notify the county to change the billing address.
Great comment Frank, but I think we'll find that every state is slightly different. In Georgia, the tax records seem to be fairly up to date... possibly just due to the difference in volume?
I saw that Lindsay is from Buford, Ga and assumed the target property was also. That could be a bad assumption. Maybe she'll visit again and give us an update.
@Frank Chin Regardless of what county level process is, typically if the mortgage is current, there is usually no reason why the bank would be paying property taxes for homeowner. The banks generally aren't that nice.
If the homeowner neglects to pay property taxes, there would be a tax lien placed on the property, and is paid first before lender if property were to be sold. This is a completely different can of worms.
If homeowner defaults on mortgage and bank already foreclosed on them, then bank would be paying the taxes while its in process of selling it.
If at anytime the person paying the property tax, appears to be an individual and not the bank or the bank's agent, or mortgage servicer etc., it can be assumed the homeowner haven't been foreclosed on yet.
Someone is paying the property taxes -- either the homeowner or the bank.
Tax records have a way of being accurate because the county has a way of getting its money. Someone will be bidding on the tax certs soon enough if the county isn't/wasn't paid -- bad contact info of record or not.
Tax records have a way of being accurate because the county has a way of getting its money. Someone will be bidding on the tax certs soon enough if the county isn't/wasn't paid -- bad contact info of record or not.
Mike, I've followed Newsday reports on the Zombie home problem for a while:
According to the article, NY State recently created a registry of Zombie homes a year ago. This due to the fact that banks foreclosed on homes, never taken title, owners are long gone, and local governments are forced to maintain them.
I always thought as you do, tax records are somewhat accurate. If this is so, why all the fuss to create this registry, and why would the county and local governments spend millions of dollars on maintaining zombie homes if local tax records are accurate, and all they go to their own offices and check on it, find the owner or the bank in their own files, and have them take care of it.
Guess the tax records were not that accurate.
The home I lived in, the bank foreclosed on it for quite a while, two years, they paid the taxes on it, but never took title. Yes, they were that generous. The prior owner skipped town, owning this bank a $300K mortgage, plus 3 other $300K mortgages. Only after the auction sale to me that they deeded it to themselves, and from themselves to me. Yes, after the auction sale, the records became accurate.
@Frank Chin That would only happen if the bank does the math, and the cost of traveling from the bank to the courthouse exceed the value of the property, then they obviously wouldn't give a hoot about it then. No bank in their right mind would bungle an asset of any worth. Most banks have divisions that specialize in managing foreclosed properties - that is literally all they do. If the sole job of a banks dept. that you work at was to manage its portfolio of foreclosed property, how long would you have a job if what you described occurred frequently?
@Frank Chin That would only happen if the bank does the math, and the cost of traveling from the bank to the courthouse exceed the value of the property, then they obviously wouldn't give a hoot about it then. No bank in their right mind would bungle an asset of any worth. Most banks have divisions that specialize in managing foreclosed properties - that is literally all they do. If the sole job of a banks dept. that you work at was to manage its portfolio of foreclosed property, how long would you have a job if what you described occurred frequently?
You're exactly right. we're talking about here homes where the public records does not reflect who or where the real owner lives.
1. You said it the best, one type is homes that banks don't give a hoot. The state registry aims to takes care of that, especially those banks that did the math.
2. I know very well banks do take very good care of some foreclosed properties, the good ones, as I bought and lived in one myself. Thank you REO bank, especially the nice paint job you did before I moved in. I think everyone in the REO dept. there deserve a raise. But the fact remains they don't deed it to themselves, so those investors who chase the owners based on public records wind up chasing phantom owners.
There is another thread on here recently on the same subject where the investor got mail returns on all his mailers, and he had to go on Facebook. skip tracing to find the owners.
There's a house around the corner from my parents' house that's been abandoned for several years. I'm interested in buying it, so I looked up the tax assessor's records to see who owns it. The record shows the owner as the woman who bought it in 2005, but I'm pretty sure the house has been foreclosed on. The neighbors on both sides told me it's foreclosed and there are papers posted in the windows stating the property is abandoned. Minor repairs have also been made to the property over the last six months(according to the neighbors). That being said, the property has not been put up for sale. So, if it is owned by a bank, how do I contact those who could sell me the property?