You can find out if the owner has paid off the mortgage by checking with the recorder's off ice. 

I have an office in the Heights and in Clear Lake.  

The Tax commissioner did not reply the question directly but said"Do you really want to bid on this parcel, I do not want you to come into my office & cry after.

@Parker Cox The first thing I did was learn how to research title on my own at the county recorders office.

1) I've located a few abandoned properties in my area, of Birmingham, AL but I would like to know who would be a good point of contact in the City or County Records Office, if anyone has experience dealing with the City of Birmingham?

There are two aspects of protecting yourself from discrimination.One is what you present to prospective applicants, posted in an office they go to or added to the application.  

Biggest reason is switching from an enlisted career to the officer corps.

Hope someone with insurance expertise can provide some advice...I'm closing up my office after 20 years, downsizing my business, and selling my home (in the Spring).

Him signing a new lease is going to be a negotiation, and the odds of him coming up with a security deposit are very slight, and it would be hard to keep anything out of the security deposit when it comes time for reconciliation; I have a feeling that move-in and annual inspection documentation is sparse as well; the place "has always had a dog smell", certainly from the time that you collected the security deposit.Consider contacting Gary Link's office to take his "Landlord Class" which will give you access to his lease, (there is a cost for the class, not sure what it is anymore).  

go to their main office in PDX and talk to the loss mit dept.