having trouble locating owner of property
Investor · Washington DC · Member since 2020 · 15 posts · 5 votes
I'm having trouble finding the owner of a house in foreclosure . I'm a new investor and recently came across a property where the original owner passed some years ago so the property isn't in probate court but every time I searched the property the owner who passed still comes up as the owner. how do I locate either the party with controlling interest before the property foreclose.
@De'Mille Morris I would search you local county's grantor grantee index to find the current property owner. Depending on where you found your info, a lot of the info on google is dated and not accurate. Anytime properties have liens or any other government documented "tag" on it or the property changes ownership, the information becomes public record. Always check with the local administration. They'll have the most accurate owner.
@De'Mille Morris I would search you local county's grantor grantee index to find the current property owner. Depending on where you found your info, a lot of the info on google is dated and not accurate. Anytime properties have liens or any other government documented "tag" on it or the property changes ownership, the information becomes public record. Always check with the local administration. They'll have the most accurate owner.
Thanks I appreciate this. I’ll look this up
@De'Mille Morris I done foreclosure investing for a while some years ago. But I found it easier at the point after the property goes to foreclosure auction where the controlling party is determined, i.e. the foreclosing bank. And I bought them free and clear meaning the bank paid off liens and back taxes. If not, you're stuck paying it.
At the time, the next door neighbor bought his property as an REO, before the bank put it into auction. The difference is he had to negotiate the sales price, and also bought it with back taxes and liens totaling $35K. Bottom line, all in all, I did $50K better.
I was told that in cases where the property is in foreclosure, the bank often will not place the property in their name for legal and insurance purposes. If there is a slip and fall, if they'll be stuck with the liability. They'll be stuck with maintenance. That's why NY state where I am started a registry for Zombie homes. properties that owners abandoned, and banks will not take title to, so the state will know who to contact. The owners name is not changed ON PURPOSE. When I bought the bank foreclosure, the property was still in the prior owners name, and the paperwork indicates the Grantor will be the bank once the deeds are filed.
As far as heirs, and who is in control, that's another story. Many properties where owner passed are not probated, for a variety of reasons. The estate needs to be probated, if there is a will, and executor, has to come forward. If intestate, some heir will have to have an administrator assigned. My wife just spent a year handling her mom's estate and the first thing is to get the will probated. It cost $3,500 to start, doing the legal filings, obtaining death certificates etc. It was worth it because the estate has cash assets, properties, and each heir got a few dollars. But for estates with no assets, or a property in foreclosure, liens owed, it is unlikely an heir will appear, if there is an heir, to spend several thousand dollars up front, go through the trouble of probating the estate, and wind up with nothing at the end.
The other issue is heirs being out of state. My wife's mom's estate is in NY state, and she happened to be named executor. At her death, we were also NY state residents. We have considered moving out of state, and at one time resided in NJ. Had that been the case, she would have to hire a local representative to handle the estate, another big hassle.
For reasons of no heirs, estate not worth to be probated, heirs out of state and too busy to travel to another state, it is just better and simpler to have the banks involve take control and deal with the bank's REO department. The other way is to contact the bank's REO department directly and see what they'll say.