name issues with title... - Posted by lukeNC

import · May 21, 2006, 3:21pm

Posted by John Corey on May 21, 2006 at 18:13:24:

I largely agree with Ken.

The judgments only attach when they attach. If they are not on the property now and the title insurance company will issue the insurance then I think you as the buyer are fine.

The guy will still owe the money. Just that he will be able to sell this asset before they figure out that they could have gone after the property. If no one asks him about the judgments being his then I suspect he is committing no fraud by continuing to remain silent.

John

import · May 21, 2006, 3:21pm

name issues with title… - Posted by lukeNC

Posted by lukeNC on May 21, 2006 at 15:21:04:

I’ve got a deal where a guy owns a house with alot of equity, he wants money out real bad, but has terrible credit. He wants to sell. He had a business that went bad and was sued left and right…but here’s the issue.

Just for an example, I’ll say his name is John Paul Smith, Jr.

He did business in the name of Paul Smith, Jr. He has tons of judgments against him in the name Paul Smith, Jr.

Now, the reason why I think these creditors havent done anything is that his personal home is in the name of John Paul Smith, Jr. The deed states this as well as the one mortgage on the house.

Apparently, the creditors have not figured out that John Paul Smith, jr. and Paul Smith, jr. are one in the same. If they only did a little digging, these creditors would figure this out. All the judgments are about 3 years old now. I figure they’ve given up on it.

Adding in the amount of these judgments takes out almost all of the equity in the house.

Should I take the chance and pay him a little money and take over the house, hoping the creditors dont figure anything out? Judgments are good for 10 years in NC.

The creditors are big corps, I tried to buy them out, but cant get in touch with anyone who can make that decision.

Could they come back later and get the house even with the name discrepancy?

I used to do title searches, and I know that when doing a search these judgments wouldnt come up because of the name issue.

import · May 23, 2006, 2:57pm

Re: name issues with title… - Posted by Joe

Posted by Joe on May 23, 2006 at 14:57:42:

This brings up an interesting topic. When will a social security number or national id be required to buy property? Or does this happen so infrequently that it would be a non-issue?

import · May 22, 2006, 8:06am

title… - Posted by Nike

Posted by Nike on May 22, 2006 at 08:06:15:

You have actual notice of the judgments therefore you will not be a bona fide purchaser–you take subject to the liens. Yes, they can enforce the judgments despite the name issue(I’m not sure it’s that big a deal here)–the judgment creditors can amend the judgment and abstract to reflect the proper name. But, if he sells to a third-party who has no knowledge of the liens and the title company misses them then the buyer would likely be a BFP and the judgments liens would not attach to the property.

Are you thinking of taking title then waiting out the liens? Have you looked at the Abstract of Judgment? It should have the debtor’s address–same as the property you’re looking at? Is the seller married? How much is the homestead exemption? Are you sure that some/all creditors don’t have his personal finanacial information? Post more information and we can help sort this out.

import · May 21, 2006, 9:43pm

Re: name issues with title… - Posted by BTI

Posted by BTI on May 21, 2006 at 21:43:45:

Luke

I believe you deal in judgements, I used to, and I found that large companies had a tendency to write off these things after 3 years, so probably no one is even paying any attention.

Still, submitting a letter referencing the judgement stating your noticed it on the court records and would like to buy it and do they have any others. Give them your few cents on the dollar price and see if they respond. You can generally take no response as a sign no one is on duty.

BTI

import · May 21, 2006, 4:17pm

Re: name issues with title… - Posted by ken

Posted by ken on May 21, 2006 at 16:17:18:

I think the judgements would show up and he would have to sign an affidavid saying that is not him which he cannot do since it is him. If you really think it will not come up on a search then buy a title policy and if it is caught later it will be the title companies problem. Check with your attorney to make sure you get it right