Obtaining Rights to Land Before Tax Foreclosure

**greymalkin** · 05-05-2011, 11:13 AM

My question involves a foreclosure in the State of: Texas

I bought a home on a 0.5 acre plot of land in 2001. My fence, however, goes around this 0.5 acre and an additional 1 acre still owned by the previous homeowner. The previous owner abandoned the land shortly after selling the house to me and I have maintained it for the past 10 years. This includes mowing, clearing trees after 2 hurricanes in 2005/2008, and dealing with mice/snakes when the lot got out of hand.

5 years ago I began calling the county tax office and after calling every few months for 2 years they informed me the school had finally brought a lawsuit against the owner for unpaid taxes (no county or school taxes have been paid since 1999). I began contacting thet law office and have been for the past 3 years. The man never went to court because he either evaded those trying to serve him or filed for bankruptcy (he has filed twice in the past few years). I was informed not too long ago that he has been cited by posting (not sure what that means) and the court date should be sometime in August. I was also given the payoff information for thte tax suit.

On my own I decided to research the propery some more and found a sizeable child support lien against the owner which dashed my hopes of buying from him directly. The law office said that this would be removed from this particular peice of property after the foreclosure, which seems to force me into the auction. I was hoping to avoid auction because then theres a chance for anyone to get the land I've been working for the past 10 years!

The law office says I'm listed in their system as an interested buyer and that it's possible I would be offered a chance at buying it before it goes to auction but it's really not in their authority to do so. They would just let it be known to whoever that I'm an interested buyer.

My question is..is there any avenue I could pursue based on the fence, the maintenance, etc. that would help me get a leg up in obtaining this land? If I need to call a local lawyer and get them involved or whatever..I'm just wanting to make sure I've got every angle covered to maximize my chance of getting this land when (or if!) the foreclosure occurs.

**Mr. Knowitall** · 05-07-2011, 07:35 AM

You need to explain what you mean by "The previous owner abandoned the land shortly after selling the house to me". If you mean that the person gave you permission to use the land, permissive use does not ripen into adverse possession. You can have your situation reviewed in detail by a Texas real estate lawyer to try to determine if you have a potential claim for adverse possession and, if so, whether it would cost less to simply acquire the property at the tax sale.

**greymalkin** · 05-09-2011, 06:52 AM

Mr. Knowitall,

The owner did not give me permission to use the land, I simply maintained it out of necessity to keep pests off my property. When I say he abandoned the land I mean he just stopped coming and taking care of it, leaving it to me to maintain.

The main reason the tax sale is not desireable is because there are neighbors behind me that are also interested in buying the land at auction and if they were to take posession of the land it would become essentially a trailer park, driving my home value into the mud, so to speak.

**Mr. Knowitall** · 05-09-2011, 07:26 AM

Then hire a lawyer to review the case and, if cost-effective and legally viable, to initiate litigation. You can't get any rights to the land by sitting on your hands.

**greymalkin** · 05-09-2011, 08:09 AM

Quoting Mr. Knowitall

You can't get any rights to the land by sitting on your hands.

That's why I wrote here - to find out what I can/need to DO.

**free9man** · 05-09-2011, 08:55 AM

And he has told you twice what you can/need to DO and I'll toss it in to make it 3 times.....consult a qualified real estate attorney in your area to determine what you can do within the legal system.

**greymalkin** · 05-09-2011, 09:22 AM

wow...anyone else want to come in and make a snide comment? I'm sorry if you all read something I didn't type and got the impression I was still looking for another answer. I simply followed up his question about "abandoning" the land with an answer and more details. I hope this isn't how you treat all your new members.