pre-forclosure: cant find owner - Posted by poe-me
Posted by poe-me on August 11, 2007 at 12:43:56:
I have hit an impass with a property I would really like to acquire. Basically, I found a vacant property and I started working on finding the owner. Shortly thereafter, the mortgage went into notice of default. I furiously continued searching–talked to neighbors (no one had any idea where the guy was or where he went), asked the post office (they only had the property’s address), looked up the deed at the county recorders office & local tax assessor’s office (they only had the name and the property’s address), searched many people finder sites on the internet (multiple matches on the name, called them all and they each were disconnected or no answer), even called in my friend who is a realtor with access to more systems and still nothing.
I talked to the president of the Home Owners Assoc for the community the house is in and they are ticked that they have to pay to clean up his yard and cut all the weeds. They wish they could find him too! They think the owner is involved in a straw-buyer scam and hence is in Mexico or something, evading authorities.
So is my only option to wait for the house to go to the bank and try to buy it then? I really would like to find this guy because I am sure he is motivated.
Then I though about buying a tax lien on the property, because his taxes are NOT current. He currently owes $14,000 in property taxes. But, this is in San Diego County, and I dont think they sell tax liens here. I say this because of the following FAQ answer I found at http://www.sdtreastax.com/au_faqs.html#7i which states:
How do I obtain information on Tax Lien Sales?
The San Diego County Tax Collector does NOT offer tax lien certificates.
The only thing they seem to offer is “Property Tax Sales” which seems to just be property that the county has recaptured and wants to unload. http://www.sdtreastax.com/pts_info.html
Any ideas as to how to proceed?