speedsix wrote:...I'd like to ask our realtor why the new owner has to do the eviction??? When the bank forclosed, they became the legal owner...and it seems that the bank should have been the one to evict him before they offered it for sale...Austinrealtor prolly knows how they got away with that and can explain it...it just set the new owner up for trouble....
And the bank cares about the new owner because....??
Range Rule: "The front gate lock is not an acceptable target." Never Forget.
...there it is...just like the bank stalls the forclosure as long as they can because once it's finalized, the bank has to spend the money to make the house meet standards for run-down or not...the gutters are falling off the one across the street and there's broken windows...but the city can't make the bank fix them till the forclosure is totally done and they are the registered owner...and by bank I mean mortgage co/bank/lender...whichever applies here...and while they duck their responsibilities...we put up with cats, possums, snakes, and rats...and Commander's new owner puts up with a squatter...
Sorry folks, while I'd love to speculate and give my opinions this is a LEGAL ISSUE that I am even less inclined to discuss in a public forum than legalities of gun & carry issues. First thing they teach you in real estate school is "I AM NOT A LAWYER"
I will suggest that contacting a local real estate agent (this is in DFW area right, perhaps HotLeadSolutions can help?) or better yet a title company or even the tax office can help locate the new owner of the property (tax appraisal web sites are not updated often enough to necessarily reflect this new ownership). In layman's terms (NOT LEGAL ADVICE) I believe the ball is in the new owners' court as to the timing of any future forced eviction - they have to request this via the courts etc.
I also don't deal in foreclosures at all, and only a few times have I dealt with post-foreclosure or "REO" property sales. So I don't have much practical knowledge of this stuff either.
But, again in layman's terms that in no way should be construed as legal advice .... when buying a foreclosure at auction the buyer runs substantial risk that the buyer will be forced to deal with the "parties in possession" of the property, be they squatters, foreclosed former owners, whatever. This is why foreclosed properties are often sold at what on paper seems a deep discount ... the deep discount comes with substantial risk of additional expense, time, effort etc.
You can Google "rights of parties in possession" "Texas foreclosure law" etc to find a lot of free info on how/why "squatters" and such have so many rights in Texas.
At closing you are never guaranteed possession. I always go by and make sure the property is still there and not occupied just before closing. If occupied you must have a current good lease in place, before closing.
If you have a former owner in possession or a squatter in the house, I would make that a condition of closing to get them out before closing. There are just too many properties for sale and life is too short to do otherwise.
speedsix wrote:...legally...prolly so...but all my experiences with LEOs on the street have been that they advise to let the court system grind it out however slowly rather than provoke an emotional, maybe violent confrontation...
Probably the same ones that advice crime victims to not resist, give up their valuables, lie back and enjoy it, etc.
Can you ask one (or more) of the neighbors to call you if they see the stuff being put on the street?
No State shall convert a liberty into a privilege, license it, and charge a fee therefor. -- Murdock v. Pennsylvania If the State converts a right into a privilege, the citizen can ignore the license and fee and engage in the right with impunity. -- Shuttleworth v. City of Birmingham
Ameer wrote:Suppose I buy a house, and go to the property after the closing, and there's someone in the house. That someone is not the person/company that owned the house and sold it to me. There's no meaningful difference between that situation and a cop's wife coming home from grocery shopping and finding a prior owner/renter in her house. If one is a "civil matter" then so is the other. If one is "burglary" then so is the other.
The controlling issue isn't Texas property law, it's how the divorce decree deals with division of the property. If the ex-husband allowed the removal of a truck load of items, will he allow her to take other property she wants? If so, then the problem is solved. If not, then the only way to get the property is to file in family court to enforce the decree. The only thing she would be able to get are items awarded to her in the decree, but withheld by the ex-husband. The fact that he may decide to abandon property awarded to him does not give her any claim.
I don't know what is done in Rockwall, but Houston area constables don't put property at the curb. They hire a moving company to move it to a storage facility and the storage fees are usually quite high, as are the fees for moving the property. The property will be stored in the name of the person being evicted and most storage companies aren't going to release the property to anyone else, unless they have written permission from the person being evicted. Even then, no property is going to be taken until storage and moving costs are paid.
In Rockwall County, the contents are actually placed out in the front yard. I saw that happen just around the corner from my house. I believe that Dallas County (where the house in question is located) handles it in a similar manner. It's my understanding that once property is placed outside it's considered as abandoned property and can be picked up by anyone. There's certainly no one guarding it. In the case of the house around the corner from me, the belongings sat outside for almost a week getting rained on. Many items disappeared causing me to assume that passers by helped themselves. Finally I, along with neighbors complained to the city about the mess that was developing. The city or someone finally removed the remaining items.
speedsix wrote:...I'd like to ask our realtor why the new owner has to do the eviction??? When the bank forclosed, they became the legal owner...and it seems that the bank should have been the one to evict him before they offered it for sale...Austinrealtor prolly knows how they got away with that and can explain it...it just set the new owner up for trouble....
And the bank cares about the new owner because....??
I am in the middle of buying a foreclosed property. The contract clearly states that I'll get possession at closing. So to answer your question, the bank cares because it would be a breach of my contract with them if I have to evict a former owner or squatter. Since neither the former owner nor a squatter seems like deep pockets for a lawsuit, I could (and would) turn around and sue the bank for breach of contract to recover any damages I incur.
Commander wrote:We've checked the ownership through the Dallas County Central Apprasal District and it still shows the ex as the owner. Where else might we check? I suspect the Apprasal District's ownership information is not updated that frequently.
I'm not trying to be a wise-guy, but is there some reason why y'all can't just go over there and ask her ex to let you in so she can recover the stuff she would like to keep—before the actual eviction takes place?
I'm wondering this too. If she has personal possessions there, she can probably contact the local constable to escort her onto the property.
"If a man breaks in your house, he ain't there for iced tea." Mom & Dad.
The NRA & TSRA are a bargain; they're much cheaper than the cold, dead hands experience.
...not if he's smart...if the divorce is final, there's no legal right to be there for her...and if the divorce decree's split the property...that's when they would have helped her get her things out...now, she may be able to talk him into letting her into the house and out with her stuff...but not likely to have an LEO get involved as an escort...no authority to do so...
speedsix wrote:...not if he's smart...if the divorce is final, there's no legal right to be there for her...and if the divorce decree's split the property...that's when they would have helped her get her things out...now, she may be able to talk him into letting her into the house and out with her stuff...but not likely to have an LEO get involved as an escort...no authority to do so...
What do you mean "if he's smart? Also, divorce decrees can be enforced as court orders. Some provisions have time limits, some don't.
