Approaching Someone Who Has Filed Bankruptcy

[Blake Morton]

I have found a property through Bigger Pockets that is owned by someone who has filed for bankruptcy (at the end of August). I have found through other forum posts that the best means of contacting the owner would be to skip trace and find their phone number. I have already found the owners on Facebook and plan on finding the phone number soon to contact them. My question is, what do I need to know when attempting to buy from someone who has filed chapter 7 already? I read on other forum posts when trying to buy a property with a tax lien that you should check to make sure they haven't filed for bankruptcy. I have also read that you should check the title to make sure there are not extra liens on it. I'm very new to investing and am curious, how do you search titles to ensure the lien status? Thanks for any and all input!

[Peter Walther]

I suggest you look up the bankruptcy case in PACER, the online portal to the Federal Court System, including Bankruptcy Courts.  There you will be able to identify the Trustee of the Bankrupt's Estate and/or his/her attorney since unless the property is exempt property it no longer belongs to the Bankrupt but to the estate.  I assume you want to contact the Bankrupt to buy the property however I believe that is futile since as I wrote, he doesn't own it.  I doubt a title company is going to invest the time to locate this information for you however they may be willing to tell you in general what they would require to issue a title policy without an exception for a bankruptcy or creditors of record.  This is a pretty complicated area of real estate investing and recommend you tread carefully.