Help a poor, dumb guy out... First let me set up the situation:

 

There is an unoccupied/abandoned house next door to me that has had nobody living in it as long as I have been around. The house itself is in fairly good shape; it needs a new roof and likely some interior work, but that's expected for such a house that's had nobody living in it for at least 3 years.

 

The county auditor's website says the house is in foreclosure, but nowhere lists any sort of bank or financial institution to contact about buying the house. Additionally I've emailed the county auditor and asked what it takes for the property to go to sheriff's auction. According to them 2 years of delinquent taxes is all it takes, while this house is 5 years delinquent according to the website.

 

So my question: WHY ISN'T THIS HOUSE FOR SALE YET? The whole process seems to be set up in a way that everyone can shrug their shoulders and say "I don't know"

 

If anyone knows who to talk to or where to begin I'd be immensely grateful. The parcel ID is 012-05-087

 

 

I did some quick research on that property (anything to keep my from doing my real work!).  That property went through mortgage foreclosure in 2008 and was scheduled for auction in Jan 2009. However the court records indicate that there was no sale. [you can search the court records here: http://cpdocket.cp.cuyahogacounty.us/TOS.aspx; just search by the owner's name as defendant in civil cases; you can get the defendant's name by searching the property in the county GIS system: http://gis.cuyahogacounty.us/].

 

I couldn't find anything in the county sheriff's foreclosure auction database (http://sheriff.cuyahogacounty.us/en-US/Foreclosure-Property-Search.aspx) but could be that the database doesn't look backwards, only forwards to upcoming auctions.

 

Also, looking at the county Fiscal Officer's web site (http://recorder.cuyahogacounty.us/Searchs/GeneralSearchs.aspx) there don't appear to be any recorded deeds since the foreclosure action; the most recent recorded docs are the owner's mortgage(s).

 

Finally, the property doesn't appear to be owned by the county land bank, which is no surprise given the above: http://www.cuyahogalandbank.org/properties.php?order=ppn

 

My best guess is that this property has fallen into the dreaded "toxic title" trap like so many others.  The bank foreclosed on the property but never took title when the auction "failed." Anecodatally, banks do this often when they estimate the back taxes, inevitable demo order, etc. outweigh the value of the property.  So technically, the defaulted homeowner still holds title, but has long since left the picture.  I'm certainly not expert in interpreting Cuyahoga County docket entries for foreclosure actions, however, so it is possible that the bank (HSBC in this case) DID take title, but never recorded the deed.  Anecdotally, banks sometimes do this to stay off the city's radar.  However, the property does not appear on HSBC's property marketing web site: http://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/!ut/p/c1/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gTI29vXyMzIwMD71BDA09LL18PLy9fQwsvM6B8pFm8gXtYkJ-Xs4efq4GjYbC5hamxARQQ0O3nkZ-bql-QG1EOAH3PRAM!/dl2/d1/L0lDU0lKSWdrbUNTUS9JUFJBQUlpQ2dBek15cXpHWUEhIS9ZQkpKMU5BMU5JNTAtNUY4OXchIS83XzQyS0tNMjYyME9ITjAwSTVWVUpMRjgyNDM1L0tfX19fMi9zYS4!/

 

Note, though, that HSBC's involvement was almost certainly very passive; they were likely only acting as trustee for a securitization trust, and all the real case management was by another bank (the servicer) whose identity is tough to figure out from the outside.

 

I would try these next steps:

 

*The docket lists the field services rep as of 2008, when the bank was foreclosing: FIELD SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE OR OTHER CONTACT: NAME LERNER SAMPSON & ROTHFUSS NUMBER 513-241-3100.  You could try contacting them to see if they have any info the property.  Alternatively contact your city councilperson and ask them to call and inquire. This would be the company that was representing the bank "on the ground" with respect to the property and they might now something about it.

 

*Contact the Cuyahoga County Land Bank (http://www.cuyahogalandbank.org/index.php)  and see if they can understand why the property hasn't been taken by the city or county yet through tax foreclosure.

 

*Contact your city councilperson or county council person over and over again until they do the legwork for you and figure out what's going on.

Unfortunately many banks are not even taking the deed on the foreclosures and in many cities there are thousands of properties languishing that could, if  someone comes along ,restore them.

 

Ohio also have a recievership situation, if the house is 'abandoned' you can petition a court to be appointed a reciever to repair it. Simply put if you have the financial resources, can demonstarte the owner is negligen a court may grant you recievership. You make the repairs (say to the exterior) and when thats done the owner of record has an opportunity to Pay for those repairs or the court can order the house sold to satisfy the lien. Typically you woudl be the only buyer

 

This is a bit of an over simplification but Camp Washington in Cincinnati has a very sucessful receivership program.

 

If the bank has "abandoned' ownership by not taking title sometimes if you contact then and they will 'sell' you the house for teh cost of what it winds up costing them to get the deed.

Thank you both! It's frustrating that the system is set up in a way that the house just sits there with no real incentive for anyone to sell it, even at a loss.

Gotta love adverse possession in some states.  It's always laughable how banks, municipalities, and land bank agencies will waste countless hours going through rigorous paperwork only to find someone has taken over the property since said agencies were irresponsible enough not to check the property after a certain period of time. 

I can't believe adverse possession really causes that many places to change hands.  It's been several years since I took property, but typically adverse possession requires a possession period in the realm of 20 years.