Posted by M. Osterman on June 18, 2007 at 15:19:21:
Thanks Anne!
I have the obits and much of that other stuff. I lived at the recorders office when I was chasing foreclosures. I’ll check on that ancestry.com tip. I don’t have a membership but I know that I can get a free trial.
I did find a new piece of the puzzle in Vitals today.
Thanks,
Mike
Locating an owner - Posted by M. Osterman
Posted by M. Osterman on June 14, 2007 at 15:12:14:
I’ve searched high and low for the owner of an abandoned home. Both owners ( on title ) are dead, first him then her. She remarried and I’m now searching for him and his kids.
I hired a PI, that came up empty. Apperantly HE is in a convelecent home somewhere here in the N. Bay of California, this was confirmed by the neighbors. However when the PI called the convelecent homes they didn’t have the guy I’m looking for.
They tell me he has kids that are street bound dope addicts…However there have been no police reports filed as there were on their father ( misdemeanor in 96 ).
I’ve used Merlin, and other databases to find out where he may be…but I can’t find much. I do have a social security number. But it doesn’t seem to help.
I’ve talked with a few neighbors but most don’t have any more info than I can find.
Any thoughts on where I else I could look?
Thanks,
Mike
Re: Locating an owner - Posted by michaela-CA
Posted by michaela-CA on June 21, 2007 at 08:56:35:
Mike,
Ann gave you some good tips. Also, maybe you can look into reverse directories (library of history center) and see who else lived with them. If the children are grown, then they may be mentioned.
See, if the neighbors know if he went to church. People in that environment are usually very tighknit and asking th epastor might yield a lot of info.
I saw tha tyour mention the bay area. I’m here and locating people is my specialty ;-). So, if you need any other help contact me.
Michaela
Re: Locating an owner - Posted by Anne_ND
Posted by Anne_ND on June 17, 2007 at 06:49:10:
I’ve found heirs to abandoned properties by using public records and several commercial info databases like ancestry.com and intelius.com.
In this case I’d start by looking up the obituaries of the two owners of record- first him then her. You can confirm dates based on the Social Security Death Index (available through ancestry.com) and with a little finagling, get a copy of the death certs of both of them- these list an “informant” (usually next of kin) and the informant’s info. From her obit you should be able to get info about kids and new husband, and do a little tracking from there. Intelius will do a criminal check for the kids.
Based on the apparent age of these people, you should be able to trace the dead owners back to the 1930 census in ancestry.com and get siblings. Also get familiar with your local county records, which include marriage certificates and probated docs. A LOT of info is included there. Write down every name associated with the property and the people of interest, and follow each lead to the end. This requires more work than your PI was willing to do, but will yield good results.
Be aware that ALL of these docs will have incorrect info, from something as small as misspelled names to actual lies perpetrated by informants. The census is full of inconsistencies from one decade to the next, but is also fascinating reading.
good luck,
Anne
Detective Work - Posted by Jimmy
Posted by Jimmy on June 15, 2007 at 09:07:01:
snoop around. see where the property tax bills are mailed. you might pull a preliminary title report to see if the house is underwater. and if you have SSN’s, pull credit reports. lots of clues could be on those reports.
its going to take some work to get title into the hands of someone who can make the transfer. if the existing ownership is JTWROS, the first step is easy. file an affidavit of death of joint tenant, and that gets the property into dead wife’s name.
THEN, you have to do some work. someone needs to open a probate for her. unless the value of the property is below the radar screen, or some other non-probate trasnfer is available. not sure what state the property is in.
while in the probate, the PR has the power to sell the property. but that may not be your best bet.
if you can identify all the benefiairies/heirs, you can buy their interests from them before the probate closes. that’s where you can get a bargain.
but this sounds like it will involve a lot of work.
there may be a faster, more direct way. if the place is abandoned, there’s a good chance it is in default on property taxes. eventually, it will come up for tax sale auction (or whatever process the particular state uses for such things.