30K Back Taxes Nightmare

[Tim Moore]

Hey BP! My wife and I have been scouring our little city for a house or duplex to buy. My dream is the duplex, she would prefer a house unless we can find a duplex in a nice location where she can relax. The other day we were walking down a street we hadn’t been down before (we like to walk and look for properties) and she noticed a duplex that was clearly vacant for a long time. It was the first time we’d found a duplex that she immediately had a good gut feeling about so I was determined to figure out more about the property. I did some digging with the tax assessor’s website and found the owners name. I then talked to some friends we have a city hall and they also had some more insight on the duplex. I called the owner tonight and she went into a very elaborate story. She told me that she had bought the property almost ten years ago. She claimed that there were $30,000 in back taxes that the bank promised they were going to pay after closing. 6 months after she bought the property she said that they dumped the taxes on her and she tried to fight it for 4 years to no avail (she said they had done this to 2 precious buyers.) She has since “walked away” from the property, but all the records I can find are in her name and the bank says it is still personally owned. What should we do at this point? It could be a beautiful property, but I also don’t want to get stuck with a $30,000 tax bill after we close on the property. This will be our first purchase and we both feel great about the property, but we don’t want to get caught in a ten year battle. I would appreciate any insight you have and please ask questions if I’ve seemed to leave anything out. Any help is welcome :)