buy land with lien

The land has two lien that has been in effect for some time. The land is worthless because it is under powerline and can not be use for anything. However the Homeowners want the land so we can have a play area and boatlauch for the people in the neighborhood.
We are considering buying with the liens because the owner now is old and has lots of land for the lienholders to collect on. the owner is giving us the land but we do have to pay the back taxes on it. the state is florida.

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by wolfegirl:
The land has two lien that has been in effect for some time. The land is worthless because it is under powerline and can not be use for anything. However the Homeowners want the land so we can have a play area and boatlauch for the people in the neighborhood.
We are considering buying with the liens because the owner now is old and has lots of land for the lienholders to collect on. the owner is giving us the land but we do have to pay the back taxes on it. the state is florida.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It is unwise to buy property subject to the liens without first knowing the downside ie. amounts of the liens, who the lienholders are, market value of the property, what is on the title report etc. There will be some value to the land once the Association uses it for a play area and boat launch. How much are the back real property taxes and how much will the completion of the play area and boat launch cost. Add all the costs together including legal fees, closing costs etc. This is the amount that the Association would lose if one of the lienholders were to foreclose and the property sold to someone else. The new buyer will get a free play area and a boat launch. Albeit no one may want to buy the property, but the Association should not have this kind of liability. The fact that the owner is old and has a lot of other land for the lienholders to collect on has no bearing on the Associations' liability. What if the lien amounts are greater than the value of his other liened properties? What if he does not own any other properties? You need the advice from an attorney in Florida.