Abandoned home

[James987]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Mo
A lady across the street passed away last year. Her son died before her. The house apparently is paid off. There is a sticker in the window that states the house was found abandoned.

Property taxes are not paid and the Assessor's Office said they will take it after two years in arrears and then auctioned off.

Is waiting for personal property taxes not being paid for two years the only method of obtaining the home? Is it possible to notify some government office, have them check for heirs, and then auction it off earlier? If so, who would that be?

Two years without any maintenance could cause a lot of unnecessary damage.

Thank you

Edit: Sadly it appears this lady had no one. She had no service, was cremated, and sprinkled into a lake nearby. Just wanted to add that. I didn't know her since I just moved here last year myself. I will help maintain the yard until something changes or I figure out what to do.

 

[OK-LL]

If you want to occupy the property to satisfy the MO adverse possession law (and this does NOT require that you move in, it merely requires that you claim the property, you could even offer it for rent and the tenants would be occupying it under your claim of possession) and pay the taxes for the statutory period (so the county doesn't take it for unpaid taxes), you could acquire ownership by adverse possession. If this interests you, you might google "MO adverse possession requirements" to discover the amount of time you would have to occupy, and the other requirements (open, obvious, adverse, etc.). That's one way to keep the deterioration down and acquire a property for yourself since you're putting in the work.

 

[James987]

Thank you for the information.