Empty Home-Deceased Owner- No Bank?

Question

Not sure if this belongs in this section of the forum, but the lead came as a referral from someone on our DM campaign.

I contacted the local tax office and they could not provide any other information other then the homeowner who is deceased and I had that information already.

Ugly story behind this one which I don't feel good about-triple homicide in 2011 and has been vacant since. I  would like to explore possibilities and get more information, but where to turn from here? The town does not own the house, thought it may be possible from back taxes and no lender on record.

-G

Rick H. · Answer

Hey K - I think your point is applicable most everywhere.

When I order pre's (prelims) title is vested in name of deceased owner without reference to estate, heirs, etc. unless I have provided information concerning an active probate.

So, unless I ask my escrow officer to order title on Jane Doe, admin of the estate of John Doe ( or provide copy of Letters, Order or similar) title does not pick up any court action on front end and leaves vesting in name of last insured grantee.

However if I DO give them a hint that its a probate, they will vest as the Heirs, beneficiaries, distributees, etc. or something similar and note exceptions accordingly.

Rick H. · Answer

As I posted earlier, my experience with title reports is that vesting is only reflected if title is tipped off that the (or an) owner of record is deceased.

My title company, being on the trailing edge of technology, does not put much effort on the front end when title is first opened.  Thus, they tend to list as many exceptions as they can initially pick up and leave it to escrow to eliminate them.

The reason why AJ's and BK's are not typically noted in the beginning is that these items are not part of their title plant data repository. They are normally only noted after running a statement of information during a date down. Because of the delays that getting AJ's late in the game cause during last minute discovery, our practice is to submit the SI upon opening the order and insist on a search of the general index.

I'd rather find the problems early and have more time to negotiate with principals and resolve, if needed.

Ibrahim Hughes · Answer

Yes they all appear in the title report. Apparently our title companies do have Pacer because BK's (referred to here as 'Upper Court Searches' are included in the report as well. However, I think they along with judgments are subcontracted out to a separate company. Nonetheless that company's judgment reports are appended to the title report.

Account Closed · Answer

Where I am, the probate filing wouldn't be in the recorded docs, it would be in the courts.  The court "filings" are not recorded docs.  Court info wouldn't make it into the recorded docs unless a court order transferring or clouding title (lis pendens) was recorded. If the property has already transferred to heirs or a third party via an order or deed, that's a searchable, recorded doc.....not a court filing.

Account Closed · Answer

Interesting.  Do all court cases involving the owner/borrower appear in the title report?  What about BK?  Here, the title report relies on only recorded docs. They agree to insure based on what's recorded, and any other valid docs they are made aware of.  My local title and escrow people don't even have a Pacer account to check BK status when they need to clear one.

Pat L. · Answer

Our title guy lives at the county offices & digs up all sorts of good information.

However, assuming the estate does go into Probate, any claim requiring that legal title of the property be transferred from the decedent’s estate to his or her beneficiaries, SHOULD require full documentation & the subsequent recording of title to the assets to ensure the estate passes to the rightful beneficiaries 'free and clear of adverse claims'.

Generally we find beneficiaries will have a real estate attorney prepare a deed to make the title to the property "cleaner". As further proof of 'ownership' it is then often referred to the taxing authorities to ensure they document the owner of record for future tax installments. But you have already confirmed the latter did not yet transpire.

You may have no other option but to wait for the impending tax lien auction, thus forcing you into a bidding war.

Michaela G. · Answer

I bet if you google for stories about the homicide, with names, you will see names of survivors.

Account Closed · Answer

My experience researching props in NY is that a title report does not indicate anything about estate filings or heirs? Is your experience different.  How does an estate filing get into a title report?

Empty Home-Deceased Owner- No Bank?

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