Title question on vacant lot in Arizona

[Vatche Baharian]

Hello All,

I'm a land flipper and I'm looking at purchasing two adjacent lots in Arizona. I did some research on the title and it looks like there is an issue. Back in 1995 the lots were conveyed to a married couple via a quit claim deed. In 2001, the wife conveyed the property to herself and person 1 via quit claim deed. Then in 2012, the wife (as an unmarried woman) conveyed the properties to person 1 and another person 2. Person 1 is receiving the tax bill and would like to sell it and she can get person 2 to sign off also. However, the county says that the husband never released his interest in 2001 when the wife deeded the property to herself and person 1, I believe they were divorced at this point. Person 1 does not know where he is. Does he need to release his interest before I buy purchase these lots? Or does this have to go through a quiet title process? These are really inexpensive lots so it is not worth going through any legal process. Any advice would be appreciated.