All Forum Posts by: Jason Vo

@Jason Vo  a full title searches generates a report that gives an insurance company the information needed to make a decision wether or not to insure a title - so they are reliable, however I wouldn't go as far to say ever PR is always 100% accurate.  I've seen 1 mistake on a title report just this week - but to clarify that... it was a mistake by a title company that filed a mortgage with the wrong info.  So the report was technically accurate, but the actual filed instrument was inaccurate.  

Accidents happen, and mistakes are made.  If you don't know how to read the report and what everything means, know how to question certain aspects, as well as how to get answers to those questions there's a good chance you will miss something all together, or at a minimum you will misinterpret something that could lead to a very simple yet highly cost mistake.

Foreclosure situations will sometimes have a lot of title activity right around the auction date - so a report could be totally correct at the time it's issued - but say for example in the 45 minutes between the time you pick up the report from the printer to the time you bid and win, that person filed a bankruptcy.  What do you do then?  You hire an attorney and get ready for your recent purchase to start costing you a lot more.

The rewards may be great, but my point is what you're doing has risk. A lot of risk - because you really don't control anything and you really don't own anything. It might work for you, and 6 years ago i would totally be 100% in on this, but I couldn't in good conscience tell anybody that you've got a good chance of having a BS-free successful experience buying HOA liens right now. Too much brain damage for me.

You having the deed doesn’t change anything. Either you pay off the mtg or you get foreclosed out.

@Jason Vo You will need a real good real estate attorney if you plan on taking on HOA forclosures. There is a lot of red tape and you can lose all your money with one letter from the bank. There has been many laws passed depending on the area you plan on buying so seek legal help.

We had (have) this exact same thing in Las Vegas. A couple years ago the state made changes and put in some new rules attempting to stop people from doing exactly what you are thinking of. It was really the lenders who pushed for the changes because hoa liens in Nevada used to be super liens and a silly little (actually awesome little) $5,000 hoa bill could basically wipe out pretty much everything else.

This is major risky. Totally possible, but just like you said, you get foreclosed and you lose it all. Not knowing the financial health (or sickness) of any first positions on the title really is flying blind.

I'm not familiar with how things run at your auction, every state/county has their own way of doing things, however There may be a title co that hangs out at the steps and will hand out a mini-title report showing positions of everything coming up that day. Go check it out and maybe you can get better visibility on the lien. It's unlikely that you will get full visibility from a free title report. Trustee subscription services are expensive. In Vegas it is $1000 / year, but if that's your game it's worth every penny.

I've got a pretty tough stomach and deal with stress really quite well- but man, the hoa lien game is one that would give me an ulcer, especially without the super lien status.