Must an evicted squatter be given notice in a quiet title process in Alabama?

[Micki Ray Harper]

I am five months in quieting a title on a home/property that was initially obtained by my father in a tax sale. (Tax certificate in 2019, with tax deed in 2022 and taxes are current).  In January 2023, he started eviction proceedings on squatters in the home and won a judgement by default in May of 2023 and the squatters moved out. I obtained the property through a quit claim deed from my father. My attorney stated not only must the person who failed to pay taxes be given notice but also the squatter as well since our suit names persons who were in possession of the house. We never collected any money for rent from anyone.  The squatter stated he didn't know where the owner was or where he lived.   If we can't get an address to either party to mail a certified letter then a private investigator must be hired to locate them.  The squatter possibly has warrants on him and will be difficult to locate.  I did attempt to get a quit claim deed from the other party but he didn't return my calls.  I have read so many posts from Denise Evans but I don't fully understand the 'giving notice' aspect.  Any insight into this will be greatly appreciated.

[Denise Evans]

@Micki Ray Harper  In a quiet title lawsuit, you are obligated try to find people who should be defendants. The complaint must describe the steps you took to find people who should be parties to the lawsuit. That is to basically keep you honest, so they judge can tell you tried. You are not obligated to be successful. 

At one time, I told people to spend money on a skip trace so they could file the in personam QT lawsuit (the one where you can served lawsuit papers on all defendants) and avoid the expense of the in rem QT lawsuit (the one where you need a GAL). But, today, most judges are requiring a GAL anyway. So, just give it your best self-help effort to find them, and then let the GAL do his or her job.

As far as an ejectment lawsuit, the real question is, was the property legally abandoned? If you took DIY possession, was it legally allowed because the property was abandoned, or was it illegally obtained and doesn't mean anything when it comes time to file a quiet title lawsuit.

If legally abandoned, that means the owner is gone, has no intention of coming back and no intention of ever doing anything with the property. The question is, what is the intention  of the owner, not what would a reasonable person think is the intention of the owner. That's hard to figure out sometime. The safest thing is to file an ejectment lawsuit. But, if you can find the owner to serve ejectment lawsuit papers on him, you can't get an ejectment order. So, that was a waste of time and money, right? All you can do then is just assume it is abandoned, take the risk, and take DIY possession like your Dad did.  Some lawyers will file ejectment lawsuits and ask for service by publication, but that is not allowed under the rules. Judges will sign off on it, but any judgment obtained by a method of service that is not allowed is void. So, all that time and money and really you are not better off than if you took DIY possession. Of course, that's only when you truly cannot find the owner.