This is a great question, Shiloh Lundahl.For me, it’s all about relationships and trust.

And then I found there were 2 other properties that were under trusts, but these houses are also behind on the taxes and collecting liens. 

I work as a field property claims adjuster and I have experience in estimating restoration damages on jobs of low to moderate complexity as well as extremely complex claims up to 100k+. 

Hi Guys: Do you have any good and trustable handyman to recommend in the Jersey CIty area?

well first off this being a landlord site.. and a positive cash flow site generally speaking.. most will tell you are nuts to buy this.however if you can get the property to just about break even maybe lose 100 a month or so and you have a prime Socal asset that someone else is paying off your mortgage and you think rents can go up a little.and you can EAISLY self manage based on quality of the unit .. incredible tight rental market.. that mitigates a lot of land lord issues.I mean whats the alternative you go 1000 miles away to make 100 or 200 a month.. is that positive cash flow going to change your life..is 100 a month negative going to change your life.now this is an extreme.. but i owned a home in Palo Alto that i chose to sell back in 91 because it would have been 300 a month negative.. well that negative within 36 months would have been positive.. and i sold for 500k and today that home is worth 3 million.... and once it got positive it probably would have been positive up to 2 to 3k a month coming into the 2010's.... and someone else would have paid for my home.. plus grade A tenants at all times.. being prime Palo Alto.so thats one extreme.. its really only in low to no appreciating markets with tougher tenant bases that turn a bunch that positive cash flow becomes more acute or for those that want to one day live on their cash flow and be in the business of landlording.. thereby acquiring 50 to 100 doors. 

Also you could identify a property from a syndication as a back up,  there are bunches of options for Delaware statutory trusts that pay reasonable returns that qualify.  

I'd be gearing up to move them out and find new tenants or at the very least keep them on an extremely short leash....although I'd be happy if you reported back in 6 months and told me I'm wrong.

Any information or advice would be extremely helpful.

Trusts (as long as they are revocable) are also allowed as well.

There was an inter-trust assignment of a 1/3 ownership in the property to the husband's trust (separate from the wife's).