Posted by Doug on December 14, 1998 at 05:51:46:
Shiela I am not an expert in this area but do have a few thoughts on this… If you were given a quit claim deed that would mean you have taken the property subject to the liens… Did you use an attorney for this transaction? I very rarely use an attorney on any of my deals but if this one was one of my deals and it was being purchased from the US GOVERNMENT I would use 3 attorneys…lol
Good Luck
Douglas Timko
notes4sale@yahoo.com
Government Seizures - Posted by Sheila
Posted by Sheila on December 12, 1998 at 15:12:45:
I recently acquired a property (via quitclaim deed) that I was unaware was seized by the US Attorney’s office 2 years prior. The property is currently not on any list to be sold at public auction (it has a mortgage). Is there a way I can make arrangements to get clear title from the local US Attorneys office directly? The house is still in the name of the owner with a $25,000 fine.
Please advise!
Thanks!
Re: Government Seizures - Posted by johnman
Posted by johnman on December 15, 1998 at 24:18:49:
Did you use an attorney to close on this deal? I was offered a quit claim deed by the “owner” of this property here in Savannah but I declined to accept the offer because I wanted to make sure that I can have a clear title. My lawyer saved my behind! I listened to him plus this site helped a lot. We couldn’t close because of several reasons. Just wanted to share this with you.
Good luck,
Johnman
Re: Government Seizures - Posted by BankRobber
Posted by BankRobber on December 12, 1998 at 21:47:46:
I have never encountered a Federal seizure, however I have encountered a few properties siezed by the County Sheriff. In these cases there were no Deeds recorded to indicate an ownership change, but there were notices recorded (under the former owners name)indicating that a legal action was taking place regarding the property. In the cases I have observed the Sheriff did not bother notifing the Treasurer’s office about the Title change.
Re: Government Seizures - Posted by Joe Kaiser
Posted by Joe Kaiser on December 12, 1998 at 16:28:48:
“Seized” I suspect means a lot of different things depending on where it ended up. If it truly went through the government’s seizure process, then you have a worthless quit claim deed I suspect.
If you’ve never seen a government seizure, it’s pretty interesting since they don’t foreclose on the person, they foreclose on the property. In other words, it’s US Government vs. 123 Main Street. 123 Main Street doesn’t have a whole lot of constitutionally guaranteed rights, apparently.
Joe Kaiser
Re: Government Seizures - Posted by Sheila
Posted by Sheila on December 13, 1998 at 07:51:37:
This is exactly what has happened. There is no deed recorded to indicate an ownership change, but there were notices recorded (under the former owner name) indicating that a legal action was taking place regarding the property. What did you do in your case? Where you able to contact the sheriff and purchase the property through the right channels?
Re: Government Seizures - Posted by BankRobber
Posted by BankRobber on December 13, 1998 at 13:31:20:
In the situations I researched, the properties were already scheduled and advertised for auction. I would suggest you get the Court case number from the recorded notice and go to the Court House to review the Court file in order to determine the case/seizure status. I suspect that when the Sheriff in your area is authorized by the Judge to sell, that they will be obligated to advertise it for auction (subject to existing liens).
Thank you both for your response! - Posted by Sheila
Posted by Sheila on December 13, 1998 at 15:26:17:
I’m going in the morning. I’ll Keep you posted!
Re: Thank you both for your response! - Posted by Irwin
Posted by Irwin on December 14, 1998 at 20:29:23:
Sheila:
It won’t do you any good to go the the County courthouse and talk to the sheriff, or look up state court cases. Your property is subject to a FEDERAL seizure, so you’ll have to deal with the U.S. Attorney in the Federal Court House in the Federal District where the property is located.