Unique Legal Scenario - Who is the legal owner?

[Paul Hoeppner]

I came across a unique scenario recently and I wanted to share it, because I just thought some of you would think it's somewhat interesting content.

I was out Driving for Dollars, and I've always come across this recently (4-5 years ago) abandoned church. The building does not look like a church, and it's a nice brick building in a good neighborhood.  The county records show that the property is owned by the church still, but I can't find any information on the church.  When I searched for 5013c's, I didn't find any information and it seems as if the nonprofit has dissolved.  The only info I could find was a disconnected phone number that I found doing a skip trace.

So here's where I'm a bit confused and have a couple of questions.

1. If the county isn't assessing any taxes on this property because it was once owned by a nonprofit, how will the property ever be turned over to the city unless it becomes deemed "unsafe"?  There are small leans by the city for mowing the grass, but they're just never going to be able takeover ownership of the property at this pace.

2. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to possibly find Articles of Organization or any other info that may have been filed as part of the 5013c?  Really I'm looking for any other ideas to attempt to contact anyone from this nonprofit.  I'm not very well versed in nonprofits.

3. If a nonprofit no longer exists, who even has the rights to sell the property?

The church owns a neighboring house too that's in pretty bad shape, but I do know there's someone living there (and the tenant has changed a couple of times in the last 6 months).  I've tried to contact this person, with no luck, in an attempt to find out if they are renting the property.  I might even consider offering a compensation, if they can put me in touch with someone from the church.

I've spoken to the Neighborhood Improvement Officer for the city, and he said he gets complaints about the property all the time, and I know the city would love to see it developed into an 8-10 unit apartment building, but they seem to feel as if their hands are tied from what I could tell.