@Keith Jourdan Who knows what the guy you bought this mess from did... but if there was fraud or forgery in the chain your owners policy could respond.

As far as finding the property, a good realtor is worth their weight in gold!

[The fact that you got your brother to ok the numbers before going ahead doesn't really eliminate a daisy in the daisy chain - in my opinion]. 

There is so much information here and I feel like I stumbled onto a gold mine.

@Steve DellaPelle @Nathan Golding @John Underwood thank you for the tips. 

The grass was long and the shrubs and trees had grown into many parts of the chain link fence.

Your payment would go to them, they would split off the loan payment and send it to the bank and the balance could go to the owner.You can also record your lease on public record which would likely  put you in a chain of notifications if the seller ever tried to sell or in the event of a foreclosure.

I get lazy and I'm a little bit of an Ebenezer Scrooge miser, counting my gold coins and chuckling, which makes me leave money hanging around in pathetic interest accounts way too long.

This is gold!

depends on your temperament and your goal.. and where it is.one well place rental in the SF bay area is a gold mine.one poorly placed rental in Detroit not so much.. so it depends..