Title issue on potential flip(foreclosure)...Help!

[Marcus Kennedy]

Hey BP family,

I was wondering if any of you genius' out there could give me some direction. There is a foreclosure that I'm interested in purchasing to flip and it apparently has a title issue. I feel it has scared a number of people away but that could be a good thing as it's been on the market for about 3 months and it's already priced pretty low.

Apparently there was one lot that was left off the legal description some point during the property’s history of mortgages/transfers. I'm not sure if this is a small problem that can be fixed relatively easy or this is a huge problem that screams STAY AWAY!

Can someone who knows about these things provide any insight?

[Marcus Kennedy]

@Wayne Brooks @Simon Campbell  I have an update on this issue.

So this whole thing is just UGLY and I'm leaving it alone. I did my detective work and tracked down the son of the lady who owned this home. I found his home address and rung the doorbell and his wife answered. She looked very weary and I asked if she knew who the homeowner was and if there was anyway she could help me get in touch with her. She shook her head and closed the door in my face. I knew something was up but obviously I can't knock on her door again. I left my business card with her and that was that.

I went the neighborhood the home is located in and knocked on neighbors doors to see if they could give me any info. No one was home except for the lady who stays right next door and she told me she didn't have a good relationship with her because she had a lot of dogs and cats and they all just tore up peoples homes and vehicles. She also told me the woman died which I guess is why the home went into foreclosure. She was not able to give me any information other than that.

While driving I get a phone call and it turns out to be the husband of the lady who slammed the door in my face(The son of the deceased woman) and he was not happy. Apparently I was not the first person to try and contact him. He has been receiving letters, phone calls, and people coming to his house and he doesn't know why all these people won't leave him alone about his dead mother. I felt bad about the whole thing but I asked him if he wanted to know why all these people were contacting him and he did. I explained everything although he was still not happy, his disposition did lighten up a little bit. He told me the other two people on the title, his sister and another woman, that he has no relationship with them. When his mother died they didn't want to help with anything and wanted nothing to do with anything so he told me he can't get in touch with his sister and they don't have a relationship. The other woman on title lives outside the country and he doesn't know how to get in touch with her. I asked would his sister be motivated by money because I could pay her something albeit not much and he said nope. I ended the conversation with if you want people to stop contacting you the best way I know how is if you help me get in touch with these people if you find a way in the future. That was that.

To cut a long story short, I figured out what happened with this whole thing. The deceased woman and the other two on the title owned the land in 1984. Over time they refinanced the land or something to that effect. When they built the house and got a mortgage, they only got a mortgage on 3/4 of the lots. How the bank couldn't see how that would be a problem I dont know. Thats why the bank could only foreclose on lots 13-15 and not 13-16 because the previous owners own lot 16 outright. As I mentioned earlier.......UGLY!

I dont think that home will ever be able to have clear title. Maybe 10 years or more down the road if that. Nonetheless, I'm moving on to spend my time finding other deals!

Thanks guys for all of your help!