All Forum Posts by: James Johnson

Just an update. The supposed owner just stopped by because we told him no rent was getting paid.  He admitted he did not own the house, he just rented it out.  He got me on the phone with his attorney.  I told him, what he was doing was illegal, not paying taxes on the income was illegal, and i will sue if he pushes the matter.  He actually asked for copies of my paperwork.  Of course a gave him a good FU, go get it yourself ha.  Handed the phone back and heard the attorney tell him to, and i qoute, "get your **** together dumbass"  lol  Once again, thanks @Davido Davido

@Davido Davido I was able to stop by the court house this morning.  My suspensions were correct.  AFS are the owners.  I have a copy of the deed from 1999.  There is no lien, mortgage, no transfer or anything else since 1999.  Everything that i found is exactly what is in their office.  The clerk spent about an hour himself helping me with this information trying to find anything and everything, because i semi told him the situation, so he was more than willing to help out.  Ownership and dates are 100% correct from what ive found on my own.

Alright, so, i believe the best thing to do is 1) go downtown and take a peek to make sure 100% who the owner of record is.  2) tenant-landlord attorney, and if he suggest a title company, then head there.

Ill also add what else ive been able to find :

Associates First Capitol Corporation
Company Type: Corporation Subsidiary

Found this through names of the original AFS.  Doing research on this building, found its actually Citibank, the phone # also leads back to citigroup that is closed today.

Also found a certificate of non-compliance in AFS name from when Harvey hit. A recent CoC was filed in april, in AFS name.

That being said, defiantly going to snoop around the clerks office and find that deed and any other paperwork available.  Might start sending emails out tonight (or just drafts) to title comps and attorneys.

@Judy Parker myself and others have stated im in texas.
@John C Green he claims to own the house outright.  As in his and no one else.  All AFS properties here are all behind on taxes atleast 2 years or farther. The man was asked about selling by a former tennant who offered well over market value and given a flat no.

Ill give more updates tomorrow, or when im able to get to the court house and find more paperwork.

@Clifford Paul Im definitely going next week to pull the title.  I know theres a possibility he could be the owner.  Just from personal experience and knowledge from others, i just dont think so, but we'll see.  If he is, ill toss an offer and its over.  If he is not.. then the uphill battle begins.

@ola 

@Ola Dantisundefined yes, owning is the ultimate goal.  adverse is a last resort, cant do anything else to resolve.  My first step is to ensure the owner is who i believe it is.  Although, this is where im stuck.  If the true owner is the finance company on record, i have no way to contact, as that branch is out of business. (The entity's franchise tax responsibilities ended because the entity has ceased to exist in its state or country of formation or has ceased doing business).  So there lies the biggest problem im on.  If the owner turns out to be this guy, then just make an offer and move on.. no biggie.  Im just preparing for what i believe to be true.  Once i know for a fact, then move from there... once i know what "from there" is.  Cant make an offer to a company that no longer exist.

And ive been asked why i think hes not the owner. As stated before, my aunt worked for him and knows he does shady things. I could compile a list. That aside, there is no record for a lien, foreclosure, deed, anything pertaining to this property other than an issued CoC in the last 19 years (as far back as online records will go). Im not a guy looking to get something for nothing, not an uneducated person, nor am i gullible. It basically all started because i wanted to make an offer, and started to find things that didnt add up.

@Nathan Gesner Im almost 100% sure he is not the owner. Im still going to try to get a copy of the deed to ease my mind. Id rather be 100% sure than almost. Id hate to piss off the actual owner if it for some strange reason is him. But for someone to claim theyve owned outright for 7 years and no records of any kind (other than a COC, in the finance company name) in the 19 years i could go back.. Just seems off to me.

@Davido Davido  Honestly.. no idea at the moment.  I was originally going to make an offer until i found out it was held by a financial company.  I figured, even better, i don't have to deal with this guy at all.  But being unable to get ahold of anyone from this company has me at odds because i honestly don't know where i can go from here.  Adverse Possession seems a little scary to me, although might be the best option, but im still unsure.  Outside the original deed that transferred to 
ASSOCIATES FINANCIAL SERV in 1999, i think ive found EVERYTHING else referencing this property.  The ultimate goal was to have the deed, in my name, legally.

@Davido Davido  
Heres the thing, in my county, we can do free searches. Images available from 3/23/2000 to Present. When i did a "Ownership History" ASSOCIATES FINANCIAL SERV 4/6/1999. So i cant find the original deed without going to court house. That being said, there is no record of deed being transferred. I have searched the records by type "deed" and found several "Grantee ASSOCIATES FINANCIAL SERV " to "Grantor WhoEver Got The Title" they were from the periods of 2006-2009. Most are Trustee's Deed or Substitute Trustee's Deed, although there is like 5 Deed Forfeiting Executory Contracts.

A little history of how we came to be here. Hurricane Harvey flooded our last house. My aunt use to work for this man and knew of this property and that it was about to be available as soon as the woman living here moved out. She talked to the guy about it. He was fine with it as long as there was a deposit, although we had to clean the place up because it was a mess when she left. Even personally paid for Terminex to exterminate. I have only personally talked to him twice .. towards the beginning when he picked up rent. Since then we take it to one of his workers. At the time i had no questions, was just thankful to have a roof after the flood. Ive since found that an ex-tenant gave an over-the-market-value offer that was refused outright. The city for some reason doesn't offer trash service to this address. Asked him about it to get, If he had to do it, it would be $200 more per month. So a lot of things just weren't adding up and i started digging more and more. I wanted to find out if i could buy the property, so i initially did a market value search and was shocked to see that there was another owner, which led to my obsession to dig further.

https://imgur.com/dyndHEP

https://imgur.com/a/htrJiEp  This is the information ive dug up so far about this particular property.  And @Davido Davido Im not on a lease, its month to month (no contract) and have made them provide a receipt for each month paid.  Also.. in the state of texas.  I do know he has several other properties, but not the address to.  I know where one is and probably going to do a drive-by today to get the address and look that one up also.

https://imgur.com/a/htrJiEp