Lien/Judgement Questions At Tax Default Auctions
Hello all, this is my first post. I just like to say first off that this forum is very helpful. Now, here's my questions. If I buy a property at the property tax default auction, which liens should I be concerned with that I might end up being resposible with? Is it possible for judgements to be placed on properties? If so, what kind of judgements? Thanks everybody in advance! :-D
What a pickle you are in.
The mortgage holder that financed the deal, where they of your choice or the friend who set you up?
You can fax me the mortgage documents and we can review if you have an out, I'm not hard to find.
We will need to post direction and results so others can learn as well on this forum.
[addsig]
This is where I would probably file a ch 7 bk to clear out the deficiency judgement before they try to attach it to your primary residence. After the bk immediately start rebuilding your credit with some secured credit cards like www.orchardbank.com
It's a shame the appraisal board didn't do more. It's still important that you reported it. While most of those boards will err on the side of caution when disiplining if he's caught again doing this kind of thing then you can bet they'll get more serious so it might protect someone else. The same is true for the broker, while you might not have the legal recourse it would probably good to report the incident in case he's had complaints before.
I'm a bit surprised the mortgage company wouldn't settle, seems a bit short sighted to them to prefer nothing over a portion of the debt. Only thing I can assume is that they'd prefer to take the loss knowing that the possible BK would stay on your record (and make future loans harder).
As for your husband, I'm not a lawyer but my understanding is that once you're married you're liable for the others debts regardless of how it occurred. I do't think there's anything you can do about that. LP's and such can be setup to protect assets ahead of time but if they're setup in anticipation of a bankruptcy I don't believe they'll have the effect of protecting anything.
This is the same for divorces, you can't just write everything you own over to your brother (or put it in an LP) before a divorce to protect the assets from your wife. If the assets were in an LP prior to the divorce coming up however then the LP can protect them. The BK lawyer would know more about this. That said if you end up going that route there are several types of BK that will protect your husband's house etc.
My recommendation would still stay the same; verify the paperwork and that you do in fact owe the money first and foremost.
One other thought, do you have enough equity in your own home that you could refinance the debt into it? That of course involves your husband (I believe he's involved anyway) but it could help with things possibly.
Again, I'm not a lawyer so all this legal info you'd need to verify with someone who is (the BK lawyer should be the expert). These are just my understandings of how it works.
I think where John Michael is going with his question about whether you picked this lender or the "friend" did runs like this:
Suppose that you were to hire an attorney and sue the bank on the grounds that they colluded with the Mortgage broker and the appraiser to defraud you by selling and financing houses at much more than they were worth. Suddenly the lender is on the devensive. Anytime two or more people agree to do something fraudlent the RICO statute can be invoked and the damages are tripple the actual losses.
Now I'm not saying that you have any chance of winning that suit. Only that by filing it you change the balance of power. Now instead of the lender having you over the barrel you have a stick to hit back with. That process of bashing each other is not much fun and after a few strokes most people get more interested in settling.
If the lender has already filed foreclosure such an argument could be used as an affirmative defense. At any rate it might get you off the hook for the deficiency amount.
the market in manhattan is so hot right now and has appreciated so much, that anyone in foreclosure most likely has alot of equity and can sell before the bank takes it. now thats not to say it cant be done.
but for 200k your not going to find much, even foreclosures. id think it would be much easier to find foreclosures and cheaper properties in the outer boroughs. and wait untill the bottom falls out of the manhattan market.
but if you want to go ahead and try, go to the court houses or county clerks office were they keep records. im sure manhattan has a computer data base were every thing is filed. search for "lis pendens" or notice of defaults. research those properties and then try to contact the owners.[ Edited by ZinOrganization on Date 01/20/2005 ]
You won't get anything for 200K in Manhattan. Try the boroughs instead. Try Bronx, Queens etc.
oh yeah, also, when doing a title search, how many years should I search back on a title?
You need to be concerned with all liens until you get the lowdown on what outranks what. Sometimes--but not in all jurisdictions--tax forfeiture wipes out most liens, at least if proper notice is given to lienholder. Usually you can assume notice was given, but not always. I'm dealing with a case right now for a property I bought that had an IRS tax lien on it, but the auditor failed to notify the IRS of the sale, so I may have to pay it (still would be a good deal). The IRS has 120 days to redeem any property in which it has an interest, but rarely does so. Sometime IRS liens scare away enough buyers so as to make it a great deal, don't discounty them. See this article for good info about that. http://www.thecreativeinvestor.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&articleid=530&mode=nested#2677
Asking county officials--as deferrently and nicely as possible can, for you need them as your allies--may help, though they may claim they can't offer legal advice. Asking the county attorney may help too, though s/he may refer you to a private attorney. Segue into your real question with something like, "I'm looking into buying a property at the tax sale, do I need to worry about title problems and liens and stuff, or is this a pretty safe way to buy property?" If you feign (express?) a little ignorance, they may be more inclined to help. Make it open ended and indulge them while they roll their eyes and give you the info you need.