Is This A Cloud On The Title??
Hi!
I have been posting for information and the help here has been terrific. I am new at this and I have been trying, but so far no success. No luck yet with pre-foreclosure letters, my lawyer turned out to be a terrible choice and no luck YET at the courthouse steps. I think I have been just too timid to bid as high as the pros do! But I'm going back. There's a house I'd like to get. It has been used as a rental for years. It needs help cosmetically, but I don't think too much. I have an appointment to meet there with a real estate agent to check it over with me to make sure. If I get the house, she gets the listing. Actually, the "pros" don't seem to even bother with any "clean up- fix up", they just put them up for sale immediately. One broker investor at the steps explained to me he can do this as long as there is no cloud on the title. The bank's final summary for this house is $60,000 and these houses are selling for around $125,000. The taxes are paid up, there are no liens, no second mortgage, almost too good to be true.
Here's what worries me: It is owned by two women who have moved out of Florida. The foreclosure has been posted in the "Legals" many times with both their names as the defendents. But when I checked at the courthouse, one of the women cannot be located, so she has never received her official foreclosure papers. They have been returned as undelivered.
Is it possible that this could result in a "Cloud on the Title"? ( I hope the answer is no!) Thanks again for all the help!
Actually I think you hope the answer is yes.
Get to work and track this lady down. Be much more energetic than the county emplyees. Give her five bucks for an assignement to her interest in the house. Hire an attny to file an appearance on your behalf as a successor interest. Make the lender go back to the begining on the foreclosure. Probably you can then re-instate the loan, etc.
This is much superior to bidding on the courthouse steps against all those "pros".
To Commercialking:
WOW!! I wish I knew half of what you know! Your reply was so informative. You ARE one of the "pros"! But the auction is just a couple of days away so there is no time to do this. Thanks for the opportunity to learn how I should have or could have handled it!
I am not quite sure what you mean by "file an appearance " but I will have to go to the Sarasota County courthouse to find out if the other owner has an attorney. Actually, I did try to locate both owners by using the internet, but they seem to have relocated to another planet. The owner that received her foreclosure papers is no longer at the address recorded at the courthouse. But I will try again tomorrow and thanks again for all your help!!