Deceased home owner no heir how do I get in first?

Question

Hi all!

I recently had a neighbor down the street pass away. I didn't know them at all or have any idea but the neighbor that I do know informed me.

The owner of the home was a gentleman who passed away a while ago, he has a girlfriend who was living there that took over the mortgage. Now she is the one that passed away.

The mortgage was never put in her name and he didn't have any children or anyone that he or she gave the house to. There's a roommate currently left that is stealing all the items of the deceased woman that would probably need to be evicted or cash for keys.

It's a hoarder home with some work to be done and tons of crap would love to be able to buy as is since it's on our same block.

My question is is there any way to find out or make an offer to the bank or get to the house before the bank puts it on the market? Or what happens to the home in a situation like this? HUD? Is there anyone who knows are seen a situation like this?

Thank you!!

Elizabeth Esplin · Answer

@Kevin Sobilo

You are awesome Kevin thank you so much! I've been doing searches trying to find info on this but I really appreciate it!! Thank you so very much for your help and input!

Kevin Sobilo · Answer

@Elizabeth Esplin, first I would research what the default order of inheritance is in your state or whats called "Intestate Succession". This is how heirs inherit when there is no will for the person who passed away.

If there are no children, it may have gone to their siblings for example.

Then I would investigate who owned the property. I would pull a copy of the deed to make sure of who owned it. Perhaps other people are on the deed such as these roommates. If they took the deed with "joint ownership" as opposed to "owners in common", then the surviving owner inherits the property and it doesn't go to other heirs through any sort of probate process.

Once you have an idea of these things, I would check the obituary and try to figure out who inherited and contact them. You can also use online sourced like whitepages.com and if all else fails, talk to the people still living there.