Investor · Tri State Area · Member since 2018 · 107 posts · 24 votes
I have found some properties in my target area (Bergen County) that seem to be abandoned / dilapidated. I have skip traced and had no luck getting usable contact information ( on two separate platforms), they are either owner occupied vacant or non owner occupied with PO Box or company name. I can not find any information on companies from the State Sec of State website. They do not seem to be bank owned as yet and we all know how long that takes to hit back the market once the bank takes it. How can I reach whoever is the owner of the properties so that I can release them from their burden lol.
Please help with any tips or guidelines you have to help me take the next step.
@Kerry Noble Jr We had to do the same thing here. We found a very distressed home that the tax records listed the owner as living in the property. We could clearly see he was not, ended up finding out he had passed away and we had to use the post from the funeral home to find the next of kin.
Mr. Gordon have you looked into the tax records (some are online), and if they don't have a mailing address online for the owner you might be able to request the information from the tax office. We are going through a similar search as the tax records online show the owner as living in the building, they are not and have actually passed away so we are working with the tax collector to find out who is paying the taxes.
@Derrick Gordon Hello Derrick I am having the same problem. What is skip tracing? I checked tax records and sent letters to the name and address listed on the tax website but I have had no responses
Thank you very much @Shane Cloutier. I will see what fruit this search brings. Much appreciated. How is the Market in NH? Do you invest there or outside of your area?
@Cheryl Moore skip tracing is a way to search for someone using different touch points from the information given. I generally give the address of a home and in doing so, I would get back a name of the perceived owner, along with a few numbers and emails associated with that address. Sometimes it brings me gold, but sometimes it's just coal. lol
@Kerry Noble Jr We had to do the same thing here. We found a very distressed home that the tax records listed the owner as living in the property. We could clearly see he was not, ended up finding out he had passed away and we had to use the post from the funeral home to find the next of kin.
@Derrick Gordon The ones owned by an entity should be the easiest, so long as it isn't a Delaware entity. Pay the Secretary of State's office for an official report or use a corporationwiki.com type site. If all you can get is a mailing address, use a reverse company lookup to see who else is associated with that address. A lot of times you can see a bunch of entities owned by the same person using the same mailing address. Then skip trace anyone using that address and call and say "Are you the owner of the house on Main Street that is on fire?"
I have attempted the sec of state route @Jason Hirko, It has worked for some properties, but I am getting nowhere with these that I am fighting for now. I was not aware of wiki ... I will see if that brings me any luck. Much appreciated for that insight.
When you say "tax records" @Shane Cloutier and @Kerry Noble Jr, what exactly am I trying to find? Is it the record of who is actually paying the taxes or a record of who the county says should be paying the taxes because they "own" the property. I have not had issues finding "owners" but its very difficult finding the contacts for the actual people who are on the tax records.
If you can find the owners they should be able to share the information on who is paying the taxes, if they are around. Like my previous comment when I found that the owner was dead I had to find their family. I started with the tax record due to them being free and online, so it was a good place to start. You could also check if their mail is being forwarded if it is clear they aren't living there. Sometimes you might ask the neighbors if they know where the owner has moved to, or worse case you tape a message to the door and hope someone is coming by to check on the property.