All Forum Posts by: Steve Babiak

For a list of dogs that are considered vicious, see my reply in the related thread about dogs in a rental:
http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52-rental-property-questions-landlording-issues/topics/33749-dogs-in-the-rental-apt

Here I am quoting what an insurance agent sent me when I inquired about vicious dogs; I suggest you ask your agent or carrier what their restrictions and limitations are regarding dogs.

Most building owners don't consider dogs until the inspection reveals their presence and the insurance rates go up. Small breeds are fine as long as they do not have a previous bite history. Most standard companies will not write a building if any tenant owns a:

• rottweiler,
• pit bull,
• chow chow,
• doberman pinscher,
• presa canario
or
• shepherd.

An appraiser can get access to the MLS.

As Jon mentions, the access is controlled by local entities. Where I am, it is called "Trend"; Trend has their own website and has documents regarding the rules of MLS access through their service. I believe broker supervision to be one requirement.

Of course, there is the "disallowed" access. All realtors get their own login and password; if you find one willing to share it with you... But the MLS controlling entities have rules against that, and that realtor could lose their access if this is discovered.

Now, just to clarify my first post in this thread. In PA, the 10 days period is more of a deadline. If recorded within those 10 days, then the documents are considered as if they had been recorded on the date and time that they were signed and not the day that they were presented to the county recorder. Failure to get the recording done in those 10 days sets the recorded date as the timestamp that the recorder places on the documents.

So in the case of two loans to purchase signed in the title company on the same day, if recording is done within 10 days, the document that was signed first (usually the bigger of the two loans) will get first lien position.

Now, there is one thing I neglected to mention that could also change lien priority of things. That happens when there is a subordination clause or subordination agreement, where the loan that is to get in back has that so stipulated in the documentation. But most of the time, nobody wants to get behind anybody else when the time to foreclose arrives.

If the bank is putting the property on the market, then one of a few things has happened.
1. Defaulted borrower has been foreclosed and it is now REO.
2. Defaulted borrower has given the bank a Deed-in-Lieu and the property is now REO.
3. Defaulted borrower has abandoned the property, and the bank has secured the premises as stipulated in loan documents. The bank will still have to finish the ofreclosure to get the deed in this case, but they could start marketing and listing to sell.

You find out lender position by being aware of laws in the state/county where the mortgages were recorded. Usually, it is first-recorded is in first-lien position; later recorded docs take subordinate lien positions.

If the county is online, you could probably just go to the website to see the recorded dates on the mortgages there.

Not sure if this will help or not, but if there is an attorney performing the foreclosure for the lender, then you might be able to persuade the attorney that at auction you will bid more than the short sale price they are looking at. The attorney could then take that back to the lender to let them measure where their loss will be lowest.

I guess we need to have the OP - Kel - tell us the type of auction that is being considered.

There are estate sale auctions (title should be unencumbered, but disclosures on day of sale are the rule); there are foreclosure auctions (trustee sales or sheriff sales - buyer beware of encumbrances, title blemishes and liens); and then there are the auctions of REO inventory. I have even seen what appeared to be bankrupt owners' property get auctioned.

So knowing the type of auction will help to pin down the risks involved in bidding.

If you are fortunate enough to be looking in the right places, some counties will give the reason. I see things like "postponed to [date]", "bankruptcy", "stayed", "sold for costs", "sold to third party", and probably others that I can't remember offhand.

"Sold for costs" end up as REO; "sold to third party" can sometimes end up as REO too (when a junior lien holder put in a bid to cover debt owed to him, and ended up highest bidder).

The "postponed", "stayed" and "bankruptcy" listings are candidates to find their way back onto the for sale list in the future; they also present other possiblities as mentioned by Dan's earlier posting.

Often, the sale can be be delayed when there is a signed arm's-length contract for sale of the property, so they don't always make it back to auction.

And I did see (at least once) a default get cured in time to prevent the auction, where the foreclosure judgment at the county prothonotary ended up becoming "vacated".