Should you buy a property from someone on their way to Prison ?

[Bob Baldwin]

I am curious because I have never been down this road before . I spoke with a friend who had mentioned that someone we knew but had not seen in several years was busted for drug dealing apparently he was over the limit that turns it into a felony ? He could not post bail and is in County detention pending the Trial . 

My friend and I got to talking about Possibly Visiting the detention center and making him an offer on the house . While discussing this oppurtunity we decided to take his sister who is a Para - Legal to the county courthouse . She was able to determine the House had NO mortgage , NO liens etc; and taxes are current .

My biggest question is while in detention is he ABLE to conduct any transactions before the trial ?

Has anyone run into a senerio like this before ? 

He has asked for a Public Defender Do we need to go through him ?

Comps show 3 BR 2 Bath 2 car garage as  & 235 K

How would you get access to the house ?

If we do get access I am thinking that we should get a  Police drug dog to go through the house with us . Does that make sense ?

Also  if the deal comes to fruition WHAT happens to the personal Possessions ?

[JD Martin]

He's going to have to declare his assets, you are not entitled to a free defense if you can pay for it yourself. I doubt the court is going to let him use legal services with a $250k asset sitting out there unencumbered. The public defender is not going to figure out how he can sell you his house. 

Aside from that, I would beware that it may be possible for the authorities to lay some kind of claim to the house if it was part of the enterprise. If it were me, I would do nothing until the legal issues were resolved.