Vacant land in Texas

[worthspending]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana / Texas

I live in the state of Indiana. Six years ago, I purchased 20 acres of land in Texas from a seller on ebay. I received a Warranty Deed and I have been paying the property taxes for the last six years. I have received several offers to buy the property, however, it turns out that I do not have a clear title on the property. It looks like I technically own 1/3 of the property with the remaining 2/3 belonging to five brothers/sisters of the family that originally owned the property. There hasn't been any title work done in over 60 years and the history seems to be fuzzy.

After many hours of phone calls with several different companies interested in my land I have found out that the real estate agent's name has red flags all over it. Basically, I am stuck with this property that I pay taxes on and do not technically own.

Today, I have an offer to buy the 1/3 of land that I own. My current thinking is I would like to sell the 1/3 of the property and somehow get rid of the remaining 2/3 of land as I don't want to pay taxes on land that I technically do not own. Can I simply give my rights to the property to the state of Texas or some other remedy?

What would be my best course of action?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Give all your rights in the 20 acres to the buyer of 1/3.

 

[nextwife]

Please:

Never, ever, ever buy any real estate from ANYone, don't even take it for FREE,, not even from your own mother, without first doing a title check (I wouldn't touch a piece of real estate without title INsurance)!!!! Even the best intentioned person may themselves have NO CLUE about the condition of title and what may or may not have affected how title is held and what is against it..

 

[anteater]

I once bought Kuwait on ebay. But, when I tried to re-sell it to the Russians, turns out that the title was just a bit cloudy. But, gee, what a good bargain I got.

 

[latigo]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana / Texas

I live in the state of Indiana. Six years ago, I purchased 20 acres of land in Texas from a seller on ebay. I received a Warranty Deed and I have been paying the property taxes for the last six years. I have received several offers to buy the property, however, it turns out that I do not have a clear title on the property. It looks like I technically own 1/3 of the property with the remaining 2/3 belonging to five brothers/sisters of the family that originally owned the property. There hasn't been any title work done in over 60 years and the history seems to be fuzzy.

After many hours of phone calls with several different companies interested in my land I have found out that the real estate agent's name has red flags all over it. Basically, I am stuck with this property that I pay taxes on and do not technically own.

Today, I have an offer to buy the 1/3 of land that I own. My current thinking is I would like to sell the 1/3 of the property and somehow get rid of the remaining 2/3 of land as I don't want to pay taxes on land that I technically do not own. Can I simply give my rights to the property to the state of Texas or some other remedy?

What would be my best course of action?

I suppose it isn’t necessary to mention that this was a foolish thing to do, or that the real property records pertaining to the land in question will only appear “fuzzy” to you, but I will anyway.

But how do you know that you hold clear title to any part of the acreage? Or that your grantor owned marketable title to any portion? Apparently a policy of title insurance never entered the picture.

Do you have any notion as to the value of the land?

Assuming that it has substantial worth and you can establish clear title to this assumed 1/3 interest, you might consider an action for partition of real property under Chapter 23 of the Texas Property Code.

Or in lieu of partition, negotiate with the other “record” owners to purchase your interest or vice versa and/or put the land on the market.

Or depending on the language of your deed, you could consider going after your grantor for breach of warranty of title.

My suggestion is that you get in touch with an attorney in the area or perhaps a reputable realtor and make some inquiries about the property.

But what ever you do with the property DO NOT issue a WARRANTY DEED. A quit claim deed will be sufficient to dispose of any title you have in the property.

Good luck