Researching Bank Owned Properties

[Kyle B.]

I have been researching banked owned properties through my county's assessor website. I've come across a lot of properties where the owner is listed as a bank (ie, Bank of America). I'm assuming this is property that has been foreclosed on. However, there are also a lot of properties where the owner is listed as a bank's trust department (ie, Deutsche Bank Natl Trust Co). In this instance, is this a property where the owner has passed away and that particular bank is handling the assets of the deceased? If so, what methods have people used to market these leads. Should I try to reach out to the bank in this instance or to try to figure out who is in line to inherit the assets?

Thanks!

[Rick H.]

As to the original post (OP), suggest you reverse engineer a few properties to see the sequence of acquisition of title, encumbrance by trust deed or mortgage, trustees deed upon sale or court order, etc.

Right off the bat you'll see that there's a difference with trust vestings used to identify the beneficial interest of a securitized mortgage, as opposed to an estate planning instrument or investor using a title holding trust. Most of us private investors don't hold in tranches.

Lastly, transfers for estate planning purposes often use a 'trust transfer deed' which is pretty uncommon for banking and business use. My point is not that these are hard rules but that the documentation has a different feel.

You can then use what you've learned is common practice in your area and search for those documents suggesting a major life event has been triggered. Hint: What would be be recorded that indicates an initial trustee is being replaced?