So I need to evict grandma... (Tax deed sale in CA)

[Alex S.]

I'm working on doing my due diligence and fully understanding the risks of purchasing a tax deed sale in California before I bid.  I'm not sure I understand what happens after you win the auction and get a tax deed if the previous owner still lives there. 

Do y'all have any techniques or methods you use for evicting previous owners that lost their property?  Do you just call the police?

I'm not sure that I have the stomach or ethics for kicking grandma out on the street and maybe need a different investment vehicle if that's part of tax deed sales. 

Thanks for your thoughts, I've learned so much from this community already!

[David Krulac]

@Alex S. Eviction is a civil matter.  In most jurisdictions the police won't get involved unless its a criminal matter.

I don't know CA law, but here many eviction judges won't do evictions on former owners from a tax sale.  The legal argument is that the former owners are not tenants because there is no lease or rental agreement between the former owner and the tax sale buyer.  No lease/agreement even verbal means they are not tenants and can't be evicted.

The process for removal is "Ejectment" which is a lawsuit in big boys/girls court with attorneys and sometimes juries;  costs a lot more and takes a lot longer.  If the former owner objects to the sale, they can delay their removal for a very long time.

One case here the former owner filed repeated bankruptcies and delayed their move by NINE YEARS!

An investor I know bought a house and right after the sale went to the house and the owner was painting the outside of the house he just bought.  Obviously the "former" owner wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon.  Eight years later the "former" owner left after 8 years of attorney fees and lawsuits.  The original investor who bought the property at tax sale got so impatient and discouraged by delay after delay that before the 8 years was up he sold his interest at a deep discount to another more patient investor!

I've said it before:  "Buying property at Tax Sale is the most hazardous way to buy real estate."  So be careful out there.