Clarification/Follow-up by maranel on 10/13/04 8:14 pm:
bishop
the city i hear already sold the place to a realator my lawyer says i have about a 75 percent chance of getting the place back. he is a good lawyer He wants 2500 dollars he says he will sue peope to get it back Like i beleive itold you before
When i bought the place i did not know there was a 40 000 lein on the place I mean when you sell a place dont you have to take care of all that.Well i gave about 3000 dollars up front around 7 years ago and made a written deal with the guy to give him a 100 dollars a month for a few years Now i hear a shell i nthat area is worth 100 000 dollars
I Mean what can my lawyer tell the court to convince them to get the place back The house is in phila Would you invest the 2500 dollars

Clarification/Follow-up by Bishop_Chuck on 10/14/04 1:18 am:
When you buy a place, you should always, have a title search done, and of course buy title insurance. Then if there was an outstanding lien on the property, it would show up at the title search ( merely going to the court house and tax office and looking at the records)
The title insurance, covers you for the purchase price, if there is an unknown lien on the property and there is court action.

If the 40,000 lien was from a bank or person, and it was sold to cover that debt, then it was not sold for taxes, it was sold to satisfy a debt, which is completely different.

In that case, the person who sold it to you, may be liable for fraud if he did not tell you and in some way cheated you.

Also did you buy it and recieve a deed of some sort, or were you buying it under a contract for deed.

Or again, was it sold merely for unpaid taxes, which is differnt than being sold as an outstanding lien on the property.

I buy tax properties all the time. If anyone wants their property back, they have a certain number of years, depending on the state I buy them at to merley go to the court house and pay the money I paid on the taxes plus a small amount of interest on the tax money. Then they get ownership of the prperty back. If they wait too many years, then the property becomes mine.

If there is an outstanding lien on the property, that is still valid, even if sold as tax property.

So please be specific, was it a lien for money owed to a person, and was it sold at the court house steps for that money.

Or was it sold for taxes.

Or was it merely a contract for deed that the seller voilated the contract on.

In either case, unless there was some fraud on the case of someone who sold it to you these sells are very legal and binding.

Also the depending on the situation, if it is fraud on the part of the seller, the court may find that he is liable for the money you paid, but unless he has the money to pay you, you can win and still not collect.

I would talk to another attorney, not saying the one is leading you on, but unless you have been alot more specific with him, than you have here, he does not have enough info to give you proper advice.

Also if it is a tax sale, merley call the court house and redemption laws.