When people say they "bought a foreclosure" they could mean they won the bid at the auction, or they could have bought the house from the owner before it actually went to auction.Foreclosure sequence, timing and laws vary from state to state.Always get a title report and use escrow.

Kaufman Law, happy to put you in touch with my point of contact there.

Is there a problem preparing a quit claim deed to hold against default, or am I circumventing foreclosure laws by doing this?

It's a 3 bed/1.5 bath home, with an in law suite with it's own 1 bed 1 bath kitchen setup.

The tenants were hell and NYC has the strongest tenant laws, I wasn't making any money on those buildings because of turn-overs, evictions and new leases.

I told him my father in law was lending me 25000, and the bank would give me 527000 if the property appraised out.

Mary Kenworthy @ Stephanie Clark - REMAX Alliance = Property Management, Cole Fackler Rose & Womble = Agent, Hanger Law = Legal Support

Whether you'll be able to collect on that judgment is a different story, but I've had about a 60% success rate of getting funds after a judgment.Be sure to follow your state landlord laws on the deduction of expenses against the security deposit. 

Each state has its own laws.....

@Aaron Arnold, it really depends on your local laws and how cooperative the P&Z board is.