Condemned home in litigation

[Flyingcloud]

I am interested in buying a home that was recently condemned. After speaking to a former tenant I am told the owner of the property passed away 10 years ago  Previously the owner had been involved in an accident resulting in another man's injury, and that the injured man was currently sueing the owner for the property. (Or his inheritors) The house was recently condemned after multiple attempts to reach the property owners. What options are there for negotiating sale of the home? Would I need to contact the person suing for the property or the inheritors? Is there any way to find out who inherited the home? The assessors office still lists the owner as the deceased man.

Thanks for any guidance

[javipa]

Sounds fishy. 

The tax bill is being sent somewhere.  Someone is paying it.  Mail/visit the address where the tax bill is being sent, and talk to whomever is getting the tax bill.

Who is the renter paying rent to? 

[moolahut]

Title may not even touch it.  Maybe contact your local title agency and have them do a lookup. Not sure if they can pull the case information automatically without doing a statement of information from the sellers (since court docs aren't always found immediately on title searches).  However, they are the ones that would tell you if the deal would go thru.  You may scare any escrow officer with the question, but they can always send you up the ladder to a more experienced branch manager or title person more familiar with this.  Chances are it won't be touched if there is potential liability legally on the property without a settlement or an amount of money set aside from the sellers escrow closing funds until the case settles.  My best guess, could be wrong.

[yussef1]

Absolutely do some major due diligence and a vigorous title search. There are a couple of things I would be very cautious of in this deal.

[JaxNursesBuyHouses]

What state are you located in? When a property is condemned our market, the county can at times make you bring the property up to current standards before removing "condemned" status. Typically this cost too much and blows the deal apart.

Have you contacted the city? Definitely complete due diligence here. Just something to consider..

Investor:
Jax Nurses Buy Houses
Jacksonville, Florida