I have been watching a home in Gardena, California. It has been abandoned for about 10 years. I called the tax assessor's office and they gave me the name of the owner. So I have that which is a good start. I called the city of Gardena to see if they owned the property and they said no. They remember boarding up the property because the house was not in good shape. The city does not have any contact info on the owner. They heard that he was in t he hospital about 7 years ago cause unknown. I looked him up but it only gives me info from 10 years ago.

Any info that you give will be helpful!

Well you need to try and track down the owner. Also check with the town or county clerk to check whether taxes have been paid on it. If they haven't see when it will go up in a tax auction.

Yes Scott is right, some one is either paying the taxes or they are not, If thy are not paying them, these properties normally sell after several years for tax liens.

And the tax assessors office will have the name and address of where the tax bills are being sent.

If you have a good friend who works for a title company in CA... they can find out who is currently the own of the property... I acquire about a lot I saw in the mountain "Grape vine" area and a local title company help me find the trust that was holding it... they were located in Les vegas.