All Forum Posts by: Gabe Larkin

I know precisely nothing about Adverse Possession but EL lived in the house until five years ago...her possession has been open and notorious, or at least it was. Again, I know nothing about it, but I am curious if there is an AP angle.

Ibrahim,

There are no rights of survivorship, and I could not find any current liens attached to the property.

Buy and hold is not my bag, and the house is in pretty rough condition....from what I can see that is....but it seems to me like you could get a quit claim from EL for cheap and rent it out and go Adverse Possession.

Don,

That was my fear when she started rattling off heirs and at 19 she said....I think that is it. Of course some of them could have died.

Kristine,

Did not make it to the courthouse until today, had an appointment reschedule and it is 75 miles away so I had to cancel my Friday trip. Anyway, Elderly lady has an undivided one third interest vested TIC.

I also found documentation for the date of death for one of the other owners, he died intestate in 1988. At this point I have no reason to doubt that Elderly lady is incorrect on the other owner so it looks like I am dealing with two other owners who died intestate who combined have at least ~20 heirs.

I have to go to the courthouse tomorrow and see. Online access only goes to 1990. Having said that, TIC with no rights of survivorship is the default vesting in GA. All of my information is from EL at this point, although I did confirm the two cousins names as they were listed on tax liens (which have been satisfied) in the past few years.

I got a call today from a abandoned home lead via direct mail. The lady who is listed as the owner of record is elderly and on fixed income and said she could not afford to pay the taxes or keep up the house any longer. It turns out her aunt deeded her and two of her cousins the home in 1985. Elderly Lady (EL) lived in the house from 1985 until 07ish and the house has fallen into disrepair since then. The two cousins both died intestate about ten years ago. One was predeceased by his wife and has 12 children and the other has 6 or 7 children and EL is not sure about the wife. EL has no contact with any of the children. The house is worth 20-25k as is.

EL is slowly coming to grips with the fact her interest is not worth much money and is just tired of paying the taxes, so I told her I might could work something out. The question I have is what course of action is best here? Is assignments from heirs then probate the only way? Would EL have a case for adverse possession? What if I can't get all the assignments (which is a virtual certainty with at least 20 heirs) it seems like a partition would chew up most of the money, not to mention EL had 20+ years of use with no rent paid to her cousins. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Both of these properties were already sold at tax foreclosure almost a year ago. In Georgia, defeasable title is vested in the winning bidder subject to a one year right of redemption. I am contacting the heirs as the year is coming up explaining to them they are about to lose all right to the property and I will pay them cash for their interest as it stands.

An example: One property was sold at tax sale for 6,000.00 The back taxes are ~1500.00 and the property is worth 30-40k as is. The original owner is deceased (a common reason for non payment of taxes). I tracked down one of his sons who spoke to the family and said they just want to let it go. So while there is 4500.00 or so of excess proceeds in escrow the real money is the equity they are simply walking away from. It is mind boggling to me. Having said that, I like the idea of mailing an assignment ready to be signed. There is still a minimum of 90 days until the right of redemption can be foreclosed, and I will be following up for sure.

I just got off the phone with an heir who I contacted last week. Initially, I explained to him the situation (that his fathers property was facing tax foreclosure) and I was interested in buying his family's interest and saving the property from tax foreclosure. He said he would need to talk it over with his wife and mother and call me back. Today I followed up with him and he said they were not interested in doing anything with the prop they "did not want to mess with it and just wanted to let it go." I explained that I would buy their interest as it stood and all he would need to do is sign some paperwork and cash his check. He said they still were not interested. I am totally perplexed. Is this something you find to be a common occurence?

Another example from earlier in the day: I had been dealing with a family who I initially thought were heirs to another prop facing tax sale. After discussing the situation with them it turns out there is a will and they are actually fifty percent beneficiaries to the remainder of the estate. The home is the only asset in the estate. The last conversation I had with my point of contact he said, "it seems like a win win for us to sell our interest to you," I get an email an hour later saying they just want to let things be the way they are. Again, I am perplexed and a little frustrated. I literally cannot get these people to let me give them money. It actually sounds awful when you put it that way...lol To be fair there is more to the story on this one and it involves a live in girlfriend, whom the family referred to as a gold digger, who is the other fifty percent bene and she is totally unaware of the will afaik.

Anyway, I was wondering if this is a common occurrence in anyone's experience?