While looking on Craigslist for properties about a month ago I came across a post from an individual claiming to be a real estate investor looking to downsize his portfolio and maybe willing to work with someone to help get them started.

the big issues there........ the government is corrupt as hell. especially in the muskegon heights area. my brother has had no end of trouble with these people. also, other areas of muskegon, such as the city, they hire out their inspections process to a place called safebuilt. these people are worse than the government over there. my brother sells a lot of his houses on land contract. these people simply refuse to accept this as a sale and call his houses rentals. they claim this gives them the right to issue him tickets for repairs needed because he is the " current owner of record". they use a portion of the government system that is outdated and has inaccurate records to claim he is the owner. consequently, he winds up in court all the time with new " violations" on these " rental houses" that he has full proof that he sold years ago. as of yet, he has be able to beat them in court just by proving that he no longer owns them, but he is going to court almost every week with them. i believe they hope he will just give up and pay the fines. that is not gonna happen with him......lol. but, just so you are informed, muskegon may appear to be a good place to invest, but you will have serious hurdles to jump over on a regular basis. 

Both times the properties had changed  ownership via a poorly written quit claim deed and could have been contested if not fixed.  

That there is not someone else claiming they own the property, or any liens on it that have not been paid.

The IRS generally agrees, and their audit guidelines specifically address a situation where someone own only a few rentals and tries to claim this status.And, as discussed above, that depreciation deduction is reducing your basis, which has the effect of increasing your gain when you sell.  

hi deurward. thats a tricky issue there. the kids of the brother would actually be the owners now because of inheritance rights. that is, if the mother actually deeded the house over to the son before she died. if she did so, then of course his heirs would have legal right to the house. case closed. however, if the son did not have a will at the time of his death, then the house and his assets would have to go thru probate as he has more than one heir. if i were the sister, especially after 5 years, i would push for the probate. its gonna cost her, but she has a good case simply because the kids have made no effort to aqquire the house house themselves and made no effort to pay the taxes or upkeep on the place. hence, they have proven to have no intrest. i would push the issue in court and see who stands up to claim their inheritance. if any of those kids stands up and says " its mine", then at least she can hit them with a bill for the taxes she has paid and any upkeep. 

I did a preliminary title search on a property where it was quit claimed back and forth between family members every 3 years for the last 30 years or so, but had been in the same family for about 50 years.

It almost sounds like some guru got a hold of you and claims their forms, you paid for, will in some way make you bullet proof if a deal goes South. 

Depending on your state there might be something more, but generally you are going to claim the net income on your personal income tax; while filling out informational tax returns for the entity. 

They asked me what right I had to enter the house and claim it as my own.