Reverse "Quiet Title"?

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Posted by Don on August 26, 2008 at 12:34:57:

Are there any legal procedures or tools--or advice suggesting an alternate approach--for the following situation:

About 10 years ago, someone purchases a house sight-unseen from an investor. Turns out the property was damaged. Purchaser contacts the investor and says he doesn't want the property. They meet at a bank and the investor buys the property back. Apparently.

However, the new deed never is recorded; the house remains in the purchaser's name. Purchaser thinks/assumes house is the responsibility of the investor. Payments aren't made. Taxes aren't paid. House goes into further disrepair.

The purchasers/sellers misplace the paperwork saying they sold the property back to the investor. The transaction was conducted by a bank that's gone out of business, and that paperwork is missing. And the successor bank won't foreclose on the property in order to acquire it. Nor does it seem willing to accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

So the property sits. Credit of the purchaser/seller is being injured by non-payment of mortgage and taxes.

Unknowns: Whether the land itself is worth selling. If the purchaser/seller still "owns" the property, per the last recorded deed, then they presumably could sell it. That's being looked into.

Question: Is there anything that someone who denies ownership in property can do to legally establish lack of ownership in a situation like this?

Thanks.



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