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    yngvai's Avatar
    yngvai Posts: 3, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #1

    Oct 8, 2008, 07:30 AM
    Weird property situation
    I'm trying to buy a piece of property in the state of New York.

    The property is shown in the city's records as being owned by a company that went inactive in 1995. I contacted the registered agent of the company, and they have no forwarding information.

    There are tax liens on the property which were sold off. There is a foreclosure that was in process, but is on hold due to some environmental issues. The foreclosing attorney for the company holding the tax lien will not provide me with any info.

    Can a company that's defunct own property? How would I go about making an offer to purchase this property if there's no party to receive the offer? Should I just forget about it and move on? :confused:

    Thanks in advance...
    JudyKayTee's Avatar
    JudyKayTee Posts: 46,503, Reputation: 4600
    Uber Member
     
    #2

    Oct 8, 2008, 07:36 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by yngvai View Post
    I'm trying to buy a piece of property in the state of New York.

    The property is shown in the city's records as being owned by a company that went inactive in 1995. I contacted the registered agent of the company, and they have no forwarding information.

    There are tax liens on the property which were sold off. There is a foreclosure that was in process, but is on hold due to some environmental issues. The foreclosing attorney for the company holding the tax lien will not provide me with any info.

    Can a company that's defunct own property? How would I go about making an offer to purchase this property if there's no party to receive the offer? Should I just forget about it and move on? :confused:

    Thanks in advance...

    The Attorney who won't talk to you WILL talk to another Attorney - so that's one way to go with this.

    How the company was owned/held is important - it could have been a corporation or a d/b/a (doing business as), a partnership - just because it's "defunct" doesn't mean much.

    Have you checked with NYS to see who is authorized to accept legal service for the company?

    You also pretty much can't buy what's not for sale so you have to see what the Attorney can determine.
    froggy7's Avatar
    froggy7 Posts: 1,801, Reputation: 242
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    #3

    Oct 8, 2008, 07:46 AM

    And, depending on what you want to do with the property, I'd be concerned about "some environmental problem". Are we talking cleaning up toxic waste, or protecting an endangered species habitat? Whatever the problem is could have long-term impact on what you can do with the property.
    rockinmommy's Avatar
    rockinmommy Posts: 1,123, Reputation: 82
    Ultra Member
     
    #4

    Oct 8, 2008, 08:05 AM

    Are you an investor? Or are you just looking for a good deal on a home?

    I've been in real estate investing for about 15 years. In my experience, you're probably wasting your time. That's not to say that there's not a chance that this could be the deal of a lifetime, but typically in situations like this you wind up chasing your tail for weeks/months/years(? ) and it never materializes into anything.

    A couple of other suggestions... have you tried talking to the neighbors? A lot of times they know a lot of what's going on. I wouldn't just talk to one... I'd talk to as many as possible and then see what facts match up. Just go knock on their doors and tell them that you're very interested in buying that house and fixing it up. Most neighborhoods do not welcome vacant, degenerating properties. You'd be surprised what they'll tell you.

    You could also try calling the code enforcement office and ask to talk to an inspector. They've most likely been out there and have an idea what's going on with the property, since it's been vacant for so long.
    yngvai's Avatar
    yngvai Posts: 3, Reputation: 1
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    #5

    Oct 8, 2008, 09:33 AM
    Thanks for all of your help!

    To answer, in no particular order -

    I am an investor. The piece of property is vacant land in a commercial area. I've spoken with people in surrounding buildings, and, while some of them remember the company being there in a building, none of them know who what happened to the company that used to be there. Since then, the building was razed. The environmental issue is toxic, not endangered species - but I've spoken with an attorney, and have an idea in mind of what to do with the parcel.

    I called up NYS, and they don't have any more info, other than that the Corporation that owns the property is considered inactive due to their failure to pay franchise taxes over ten years ago.

    I feel silly in that I forgot to check to see in what state the Corporation was formed. I am now in process of looking in that state's records for possible contact info.
    yngvai's Avatar
    yngvai Posts: 3, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #6

    Oct 13, 2008, 05:03 AM

    Quick update - the state where the corp was formed also shows the company as inactive.

    I was able to find out from the company that's servicing the tax lien that the holder of the lien will eventually foreclose and force the property to go up for auction, and that my only shot of getting it would be to bid at the auction. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure plenty of others will be bidding then, too, whenever that is, and I'm not in a position to get into a bidding war.

    No worries. Onto the next one!

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