Title Search - Claim to Deed - Is this anything to worry about?

[Terrell Garren]

I have the high bid on a $60K foreclosure property.  Scheduled to close in a couple weeks. My RE attorney turned up a weird thing during title search.  He has been doing RE searches for 40 years and said he has never seen a deed claim like this.  He said it was completely baseless in law, however, he was concerned about future claims or even personal safety.  Has anyone dealt with a claim like this? I would appreciate your perspective. 

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by @Terrell Garren:

I have the high bid on a $60K foreclosure property.  Scheduled to close in a couple weeks. My RE attorney turned up a weird thing during title search.  He has been doing RE searches for 40 years and said he has never seen a deed claim like this.  He said it was completely baseless in law, however, he was concerned about future claims or even personal safety.  Has anyone dealt with a claim like this? I would appreciate your perspective. 

 The document doesn't show a date that I can see. If it was filed before Noah's flood, I wouldn't worry about it. The laws have changed since then.

If it was filed in the last few years or by the previous owner, you can bet the county records will have other such filings. There may have been an unrepresented complainant in a "Sovereign Man" case. (That's where they borrow money, don't pay it back and then claim that since they were paid in paper money, not gold, they are not required to repay the debt and they get to keep the property. It's a little more convoluted than that, but you get the idea.

He is either in a local institution (mental, jail, or politics) and you might be able to track that information down if you follow the legal filings and hire a skip tracer. Or, he may be wandering the streets with the idea of getting "his property" back. I'd check with the sheriff's office to see if they had an eviction for the address and any other "incidents". It's also a good idea to check with the neighbors. They will have some colorful stories to tell. That should help you decide your next step. And of course if you keep enough gold on hand, you can pay him off when he shows up. He doesn't take Visa.