How to find owner of vacant house?

Question

I had asked previously in another discussion about a property and how I could find out if it was inherited or not. After digging deep I found out that the owners had passed away. However, the house is still listed under them in my local tax assessor's website, and also on other sites like white pages. This would make sense to me if they recently passed, but both husband and wife passed years ago. The house is vacant, has boarded windows, and a nailed mailbox. Also, a neighbor around that area told me that they had seen some people moving an old sofa in there a few weeks ago.

In my previous post I wanted to know how I could find out if someone had inherited the property. What I really need to know is who the real owner is currently. It is a property with great potential, but only if I can find what I need. Does anybody have any recommendations on how to find the new owner of this type of property?

I've tried letters on the door, and searched for other properties that they could have owned to send letters.

Thank you!

Frank Chin · Answer

My dad helped many of our relatives who passed away, unofficially in some cases, and officially as an executor.

There is a period of time, sometimes a few years, between the time someone passes, and the settlement of the estate. Most people have wills, it's probated, an executor takes over, and handles the estate. In other cases, the person dies intestate, a court appointed administrator is assigned, search goes on for the heirs, and this process takes a little longer.

Sounds like you have no idea at what stage the probate process is, and leaving notes on the front door won't get you there.

In the probate stage, no one inherited the property. It's a stage to determine who is to inherit. It is also at the stage that the decadent's debts are taken care of. The executor will also allow people to come by collect things and cleanup the place.

When estates have property, assets, ones that my dad handled, an attorney is hired to handle the estate. My dad is not an attorney. So you'll have to go to probate court to determine who the executor is, and who the attorney handling is. When my dad was executor, everything first goes through the estate attorney.

While all of this is going on, the vacant house is boarded up, sometimes for years. Oh, the executor or his attorney makes sure the property is kept up, and taxes paid.

Mark Pedroza · Answer

@Victor Barboza

To make sure that probate has started, check this website: https://adtech.dailyjournal.com/legalAds/

To start go to search then for State choose AZ. For County choose Maricopa. Then in Category select Probate and Probate Notices. For Newspaper select The Record Reporter. The probate notice heading you want is Notice of Hearing On Petition for Formal Probate of Will and Appointment of Personal Representative. In the From is the date range that you can change prior to today (15-20-30 days, etc;) to check if probate has already started.

If probate proceedings have started then the estate will be in the administration phase. The named PR will be your point of contact. This shouldn't take years. If the probate process run's smoothly then closing of the estate is usually 9-12 months. At least that's the probate timeline here in CA. Also pull the death certificate as well. Whomever filled it out will be your 1st point of contact.

Good luck....

Hector Lozano · Answer

Check with your court house, specifically the probate office, if the records are not online. They will be able to tell you if it's in probate and what stage it is in.  Just as the last post stated, probate can take years before it is cleared up, depending on the circumstances. Example, I was hired on one probate case that has been in probate for 2 years now, but the attorney is currently looking for violations of the court order in order to help his client win the estate. He's already told me that they are thinking it will drag out for another 2 years, at least, since there is a lot of money involved and the kids in the estate are fighting each other. To find the kids or relatives to the owners, you might want try public records searches online (for a fee) or even hire a PI.  Hope this helps

Account Closed · Answer

@Victor Barboza maybe search for obituary. It may name survivors. I wouldn't mail them if the person just recently passed though. If it's been some time since passing then I'd say it's okay mailing survivors.

Victor Barboza · Answer

@Frank Chin

That might be the case with this property. Like I said the owners had passed a few years ago, so I figured a letter wouldn't be too aggressive towards the new home owners. But, now that you mention, I am almost positive that what you stated is the case with this property. My guess is that the probate is almost finished though, because a neighbor had told me that there was some people moving a sofa in not to long ago. I will look more into it but not get too attached to the property since like you stated could take years. Thanks a lot!

How to find owner of vacant house?

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