All Forum Posts by: Tim Priebe

The big issue, as was stated, is zoning. There is not a universal agreement nationwide about tiny homes in zoning departments across the nation. Most counties use the IRC for a majority of their codes. For example, under the IRC, a room, (not bathroom or kitchen) must be at least 70 sq feet with 7 foot ceiling. This is a problem with tiny houses. 

Some counties, usually in the mountains, here in Colorado allow them. Others do not. Here in Colorado tiny homes are registered through the DMV and not through county assessors. So you do not have the same procedures as you would with real estate, ie titling and recording. 

You can go the route of petitioning your county to allow for changes but you will be up against parties who don't want those changes. 

Look before you leap.   

@Ryan 

@Ryan Sanders This type of question comes up often. I just spoke to a broker about a week ago and he was paying for probate leads. He was not having any luck with the leads as the houses had already been sold. I questioned the ability of this company from Florida to provide good court records.

I say that because Colorado (my experience is with El Paso County specifically) has tight rules on providing information to the public. I as an attorney cannot get records from the court house unless I was personally on the case. If I was not on the case, I can purchase an overview of what happened but they blacked out the personal contact information of the parties. I just had to do this last week on a matter that I have. The court clerk indicated that if I wanted more information I had to put in a request. Her supervisor then reviews my request and determines if I am entitled to the information. 

Bottom line, I don't think that you will be able to access that information especially if you are looking for leads. 

@Mike T. This situation happens often in land East of Colorado Springs.  Families have owned property for years and years and do not care much for proper transfers or title insurance. As the growth of Colorado Springs is spreading towards the East, more sophisticated buyers are buying property out there and using title insurance which then is bringing these issues to the forefront. 

From your post I can't tell if you have a ownership/titling issue or a zoning issue. What is 1972 subdivision law that you are referencing? 

@Michael Frankel Something to understand about properties acquired through tax liens in Colorado- before a title insurance company will sign off on a deal (ie before the property is truly marketable) either nine years must have past since the Treasurer's Deed was issued or you have you file a Quiet Title action.  

Let me know if you have questions.

Tim

If you have a question, feel free to give me a call.

Hello Christopher,

I would suggest that you search previous blog posts as this was recently discussed. I practice probate law in Colorado Springs and assist investors in cleaning up title issues on probate properties. A property can and usually is sold while still in probate.  Do you have a potential deal or are you just looking at the probate property market in general?

@Danette Stafford  I am a good-middle aged -boy attorney here in Colorado Springs.

Give Hal Lohse a call. His info is below. He is a good old boy attorney who has practiced here for years, knows mobile home law and all of the players. 

Law Office Of Herman A. Lohse III  

@Tyler Zimmerman- Every once in a while I get a promotional piece from an investor. It only seems to be one time and then I never hear from them again. Since I am now more involved with BP, I will be coming here to let people know about any deals that I am working with. 

I am developing a class that is geared towards RE brokers but would be good for investors also. It will cover an overview of the probate process and what to do if they have an existing client who dies or get they get contacted by a party that is going through the probate process due to a family member and they need to sell the estate home.  I will let you know if I present it up in Denver in the near future. These deals are easy to screw up if you don't have the right information. You don't want to wait until closing to find out issues with the title insurance companies.

Take heed- these are really distressed people. This could be their childhood home that they are selling so if you come in trying to only low ball them, it won't work. Also they always have another family member (usually out of town and not helping with the matter) that thinks they can sell it for way more than your offer.   

Who was the employee that you spoke to? Was this someone from the State?

I am not sure of the percentages but probably most probate cases are filed by an attorney. You can file on your own and when you do that you have to paper file with the courts. The court clerks then file the paperwork electronically. The site that attorneys use is called ICCES. You need to be an attorney to access that site. 

Sending some promotional bling to probate attorneys in your area is not a bad idea. Saying things like we can do quick cash deals is something that could interest probate clients.

I am working on a program right now for realtors educating them on the probate process and how to work with it for their clients. Soon to have CE units recognized by DORA, I hope.

@Tyler Zimmerman As @Bill S. said be wary of the man who is giving you the great idea and then just by chance will sell you the information.  As an attorney who practices probate law I will tell you in Colorado probate cases that are filed by attorneys are done online. The old days of accessing public records are gone. Colorado has placed privacy restrictions on a number of court filings. This is to stop people from snooping around for their financial gain. As an example, I can not look at old records unless I am listed as the attorney of record. For online filings that are not my cases I have to pay a fee and still then can not access some of the information.

I have a friend and client here in El Paso that did buy a list from someone. Not sure if the information was correct or not but he only received one return call from his mailings. They berated him for asking the grieving family to sell Grandma's house. So even if you find such a list, be wary as your services may not be welcomed.