I need some assistance is this matter...I recently came across a property that has been vacant for some time and I did a little research on it. Come to find out that the owner, plus the person's relatives that were named administrators are deceased. The property owes thousands of dollars in realestate taxes and work is much needed to repair property. The sticky point here is that after I was able to track down a last living relative, they do not want anything or can't afford to obtain this property. My suggestion was to him for him to transfer the Adminstrative papers to his name then transfer the deed over to me, in turn I will pay off the realestate taxes owed and pay him what the house was appraised at...very low.

Or should I just go to the Wills office of the city and inform them about the house and see if they would make me the Administrator of the estate and then I can transfer the deed over to my name.

Please advise if I should be going a whole other route.

ScottGem

You work through relative. All the work you have done in tracking him down was speculative. But to try and take the property over would be unethical if not illegal.

The relative needs to file a claim with the county as the nearest relative. I'm not sure whether this has to go to a probate court or what, but once he's established and registered ownership, he can then sell to you. You agree on a price he will accept and you deduct the cost of bringing the taxes up to date and any costs you incurred in tracking him down.