for the Experts! How to buy this property? Will, Judgments more than property worth

[Alex2929]

property is in South Dakota

Ok guys this is my first experience with trying to buy a property with so many complicated issues attached.

Here is the situation:, Property is a fixer upper and run down, but I have negotiated a good deal from the Son(seller) and Mom(seller). Son has a will from his deceased father 6 years ago ( will has not been transferred yet), Mom has a life estate interest.
I have a purchase agreement signed by the son and the mother
Problem is son has judgments out there higher than the property purchase price is, Mom has no judgments.
Taxes have not been paid for last 5 years and there is a county tax lean attached to the property, other than this all other judgments are on the Sons name and not attached to the property

How can I buy this property without Son's judgments getting attached , is there a way?
Sons attorney tells me to sign over a quit claim deed, but I would risking all those leans getting attached to the property as far as I understand it right?

 

[Zigner]

property is in South Dakota

Ok guys this is my first experience with trying to buy a property with so many complicated issues attached.

Here is the situation:, Property is a fixer upper and run down, but I have negotiated a good deal from the Son(seller) and Mom(seller). Son has a will from his deceased father 6 years ago ( will has not been transferred yet), Mom has a life estate interest.
I have a purchase agreement signed by the son and the mother
Problem is son has judgments out there higher than the property purchase price is, Mom has no judgments.
Taxes have not been paid for last 5 years and there is a county tax lean attached to the property, other than this all other judgments are on the Sons name and not attached to the property

How can I buy this property without Son's judgments getting attached , is there a way?
Sons attorney tells me to sign over a quit claim deed, but I would risking all those leans getting attached to the property as far as I understand it right?

For a matter of this magnitude, an internet forum is not the place to be asking. You will want to speak to your own attorney (not the seller's).

 

[adjusterjack]

Property is a fixer upper and run down, but I have negotiated a good deal from the Son(seller) and Mom(seller). Son has a will from his deceased father 6 years ago ( will has not been transferred yet), Mom has a life estate interest.
I have a purchase agreement signed by the son and the mother
Problem is son has judgments out there higher than the property purchase price is, Mom has no judgments.
Taxes have not been paid for last 5 years and there is a county tax lean attached to the property, other than this all other judgments are on the Sons name and not attached to the property

Here's the best advice anybody can give you:

Unless you are paying ONE DOLLAR for that property, you'd have to be an idiot to buy it.

Walk away.

You have no idea what you are getting into and (forgive my bluntness) you will lose your ass.

 

[Alex2929]

Why such harsh reactions?
Even if paid off the judgments the house would still be a decent deal

 

[justalayman]

Why such harsh reactions?
Even if paid off the judgments the house would still be a decent deal

The truth is harsh sometimes


The first problem: son and mother, at the moment, have no legal title
To the house so they can't sell it. The owners estate (the deceased guy) must go through probate where title can be transferred to whomever it needs to be. For all anybody knows the deferents estate is eyeball high in debt and the house must be sold by the estate to pay estate debts.

Then, if the son ends up with legal title he can sell it to you.

I have no idea why the attorney would suggest you sign a quit claim deed. The only person that signs a deed is the grantor. The grantor is the current owner. That obviously isn't you.

Then, unless you want to be liable for the taxes you would have to make certain the seller pays them prior to transfer to you. If you don't know what you are doing you could end up buying the house and still owing the taxes.

The sons judgments are irrelevant to you. If they attach to the property prior to transfer to you, that just means the money you pay will go to the creditors rather than the son. That's his issue, not yours.


That is just a slight insight into the situation. You really need your own attorney to protect your interests since it is obvious you have no understanding of the problems associated with this purchase.

 

[adjusterjack]

Why such harsh reactions?
Even if paid off the judgments the house would still be a decent deal

At least you have the sense to ask questions before doing it.

There's one more thing that hasn't been addressed yet - the Mom's "life estate."

Do you know what that means?

It means she lives in your house until she dies. You don't get to use it nor do you derive any income from it.

 

[Zigner]

It means she lives in your house until she dies. You don't get to use it nor do you derive any income from it.

I got the impression that mom is willing to give that up as part of the sale.

 

[Alex2929]

At least you have the sense to ask questions before doing it.

There's one more thing that hasn't been addressed yet - the Mom's "life estate."

Do you know what that means?

It means she lives in your house until she dies. You don't get to use it nor do you derive any income from it.

Mom is willing to sign over and grant/give up her part of the estate or the other way around, son will grant his part to mom so the sale can go through without Sons judgments getting atached

 

[Alex2929]

The truth is harsh sometimes


The first problem: son and mother, at the moment, have no legal title
To the house so they can't sell it. The owners estate (the deceased guy) must go through probate where title can be transferred to whomever it needs to be. For all anybody knows the deferents estate is eyeball high in debt and the house must be sold by the estate to pay estate debts.

Then, if the son ends up with legal title he can sell it to you.

I have no idea why the attorney would suggest you sign a quit claim deed. The only person that signs a deed is the grantor. The grantor is the current owner. That obviously isn't you.

Then, unless you want to be liable for the taxes you would have to make certain the seller pays them prior to transfer to you. If you don't know what you are doing you could end up buying the house and still owing the taxes.

The sons judgments are irrelevant to you. If they attach to the property prior to transfer to you, that just means the money you pay will go to the creditors rather than the son. That's his issue, not yours.


That is just a slight insight into the situation. You really need your own attorney to protect your interests since it is obvious you have no understanding of the problems associated with this purchase.

Taxes will be paid off from the proceeds of the sale so that part we are clear about, just not clear if sons judgments can attach as leans when the will will get transferred in order for this sale to take effect.
Also Sons attorney suggested for the Son, not me to sign over a Quitclaim Deed

 

[Silverplum]

Thank you, nice volunteers, for explaining all of that.


(That's called "Basic Manners." Watch and learn.)

 

[justalayman]

Taxes will be paid off from the proceeds of the sale so that part we are clear about, just not clear if sons judgments can attach as leans when the will will get transferred in order for this sale to take effect.
Also Sons attorney suggested for the Son, not me to sign over a Quitclaim Deed

You're missing the point. It is NOT the son's house NOR is it the mother's house. The estate of the father/husband still owns it. If the son and mother want to take his estate through probate where they might be able to place it in the mother's name (without reading the will there is no way to know) where you could purchase it from
The mother. As it stands now, you are entering a contract with holders of a future interest. There is nobody that can execute a valid deed to actually transfer ownership to you right now.

The fun thing about this is if it is discovered somebody acted to defraud a creditor, they may be able to still come after the house. Then what are you going to do?

 

[adjusterjack]

Another point that hasn't been addressed - Did the Mom and Dad own the house jointly with right of survivorship (OP, check the deed)?

If yes, then Mom automatically owned it upon Dad's death and it wouldn't need to be probated. Mom could sell it outright and give up her life estate at the same time.

 

[justalayman]

Another point that hasn't been addressed - Did the Mom and Dad own the house jointly with right of survivorship (OP, check the deed)?

If yes, then Mom automatically owned it upon Dad's death and it wouldn't need to be probated. Mom could sell it outright and give up her life estate at the same time.

It makes no sense there would be a life estate granted via dads will if this was the case. Doesn't mean somebody didn't have any idea what they were doing but if they had any clue there would be no life estate granted if JTWROS.