Posted by William Bronchick on November 03, 2003 at 10:10:37:
If you lost all the paperwork, get a copy from the previous owner. Don’t assume she won’t cooperate - ASK.
If she refuses, you may need to appear in the bankruptcy proceeding to claim your ownership. In short, you need to hire an attorney to resolve this - right away.
Lost my ownership papers! Help - Posted by Able Learner
Posted by Able Learner on November 03, 2003 at 03:57:25:
I?ve lost Sub2 ownership papers on the house I am now occupying. It was my first investment house. I fell in love with it because of the skylights, the pools and mostly . . . the woods. Fortunately . . . my first and only tenant buyer didn?t take the option and I got it back. Now I live in it and am ready to refinance. The original owner has just filed bankruptcy and has included it in the bankruptcy papers because the mortgage is now in the mortgage company?s bankruptcy department.I have located all of the paperwork for all of my other houses, but not this one. Must have used the paperwork as an example when acquiring another house and just set it aside . . . and then thrown it out by accident. There is more than just a deed involved because my company owns the property as beneficiary of a trust in the family name of the original owner. I am the Trustee and all of the trust and assignment paperwork is missing. Now . . . although the person I purchased the property from ended up not the happiest with her own decision, and is now under bankruptcy stress, I still paid her mortgage for more than two years now. Now I want to pay off the loan.I tend to ?awfulize? in situations like this . . . going through all the worst case scenarios first. But Sub2 pros . . . how do I sit?1) If original owner decides she wants the property back, can she forge up some paperwork making her the trust owner? The trust is in her last name . . . example: ?The Corlioni Family Trust.?2) Why would she want the property back? 3) Can she legally include the property in the bankruptcy?if I don?t have complete proof of ownership?4) What incentives does she have to give me a copy of the paperwork?5) Will I have to offer her additional incentives. What do you suggest?6) or do I have grounds to sue her for the paperwork?7) What if she has lost hers?8) What does S.O.L mean?Sincerely,Able Learner
Reply: Lost my ownership papers! Help - Posted by calgal
Posted by calgal on November 05, 2003 at 01:34:44:
1)Get a good real estate attorney. 2)Get copies of all of your bank statements showing the history of your payments. 3)There has to be a certificate of the trust in existence somewhere(and copies of it within the hands of the attorney/s who drafted it-a good reason to always have a professional handle such documents even if you do draft your own!)Perhaps a trip to your local tax assessor’s office asking for the history of the taxes paid might reflect any changes to the trust ie:revocations and then reinstatement such as when there are refinances or other changes the creator/s of the trust may make or has made that might reflect your interest thus coinciding with your payment history (this depends on the type trust, ie: revocable or irrevocable etc.)
I would keep looking for the paperwork too, visit http://www.lawyers.com bulletin boards for help and if this does not work then yes, perhaps you are S.O.L. (**it out of luck.)
Best of luck to you and I hope you find those papers too!