Posted by Keith (TX) on November 14, 2002 at 14:55:17:
Hya Richard,
I live in Houston, and also came across a property recently where it was abandoned, and the owner died a couple years back. I made many attempts to leave letters, and flyers on the property, but with no luck at all. Finally, I went downtown to the probate court, and had them check for a will. Bingo, sure enough, I got a will, an executor (The deceased brother), an address and all the goods necessary to begin negotiations. Good Luck, and I hope this helps. Also, here is a link that I found after I took the drive downtown. It gave me alot of the same information, but could have saved me some time.
Abandoned house need help - Posted by Richard (TX)
Posted by Richard (TX) on November 12, 2002 at 10:02:43:
Have found an abandoned house but can’t find owner. The neighbors say they think the lady died about 1 1/2 years ogo and no one ever saw anyone come there. All utilities have been disconnected and gas and electric meters pulled. This makes me think nobody payed the bills. Tax value of $51,200 House needs new roof, paint, and cut back the shurbs as you can’t rardly see the house. Have not seen the inside except thru windows. Looks very good inside but no furniture, so someone had to take the furniture. Very little trash inside. Could be vacuumed and trash picked up in half a day. Splash a little paint inside and it is ready to sale. How do I find the current owner? The tax records still show her as owner with the address of the abandoned house, and taxes are not being paid. This is a very nice brick home and we have lots of people that buy at the tax sales. If I wait for it to finally go to tax sale in a year or two it will go to high.
Any help from you nice people on this great site would be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance
Richard McCaslin
Re: Abandoned house need help - Posted by michaela-ATL
Posted by michaela-ATL on November 12, 2002 at 17:33:07:
go to www.ancestry.com then click on ‘search archives’ at the top. then look to the right and you’ll see ‘social security death records’. check there and see, if she’s dead. write down all the info, that’s given there, about that person. dob, dod etc.
as kristine wrote, check the probate court in that county.
if there’s no filing there, go to your vital records office and buy the deathcertificate (around $ 10)
it normally gives an informant’s name and address, who is usually a relative.
Re: Abandoned house need help - Posted by Kristine-Ca
Posted by Kristine-Ca on November 12, 2002 at 14:43:04:
Richard: check the death records to make sure that she is deceased. She may be in a nursing home or living with family. Check the probate filings at your courthouse to see if there has been any filings under her name. There might be a power of attorney, could be a probate filing. Then you will have the name of an attorney or petitioner. If you find that she is deceased, but no probate filings, then find and read the obit. You will then have to contact potential heirs, etc.