Buying a Property in Receivership

[Matt Schelberg]

While doing some due diligence on a Baltimore City property I'm looking to purchase I found that the local court has appointed a Receiver to sell the property.  I'm pretty unfamiliar with the Receivership process, but from what I can gather here, it's the City's way of abating "nuisance" properties when the owners won't renovate them.  The city basically seizes the asset and sells it.  Pretty drastic stuff!  And I need to understand it better.  @Ned Carey has a couple good blog posts on his experience with receivership but I was unable to determine the outcome of his efforts.

This is an assignment deal and I haven't yet signed the assignment agreement. So I have time to make a good decision. Here is what I know:

• The court appointed a Receiver on Sept 6th, with a stay of 60 days to Nov 9th (whatever that means). No court entries on the case file on Judiciary Case Search since September.
• The property is not in particularly bad condition.  Pretty standard moderate renovation. No fire damage. Roof, walls, floors are good.
• If I purchased it, the closing would likely be in mid-December.

Questions:

What ability do I have to step in as the new owner, start the reno, and get it out of Receivership?

Will a title company even insure this?

Thanks!