Just curious, has anyone had the occasion to look into a little "deserted" town in the southwest looking for the title to one of the dilapidated buildings? Just wondering what's happened to the titles (bill-of-sale?) on some of those buildings. Did the banks lose money on foreclosures? I can imagine the property owner did. I've an accquaintance back in NM who's ancestor formed the town of Hagerman. It's mostly deserted now, there are people living outside town on farms/ranches/etc. Hagerman, NM, like many in the SW (Vaughn, Taiban) are mostly deserted. As I say, just curios. I wouldn't even know where to look for any particular information other than county seats and I now live 1500 miles away. Thanks, Don

In article <3C835364.B8CDC494@icehouse.net> Don Nickell <dnickell@icehouse.net> writes: >Just curious, has anyone had the occasion to look into a little "deserted" >town in the southwest looking for the title to one of the dilapidated >buildings? Just wondering what's happened to the titles (bill-of-sale?) on >some of those buildings. Did the banks lose money on foreclosures? I can >imagine the property owner did. I haven't, but the deeds are usually recorded somewhere. Usually that is at the county or state level, if the counties and states were already defined. I doubt that the ownership of any of those properties is a mystery. -- Drew Lawson | It's not enough to be alive drew@furrfu.com | when your future's been deferred

Here in Nevada, the county takes them back for overdue taxes and then can sell them in a lien sale. Often since they don't sell the county just keeps them. Some have been bought by speculators. Several ghost towns have been turned into parks to preserve the history, either by the county or the state of Nevada. Pat Drew Lawson wrote: > > In article <3C835364.B8CDC494@icehouse.net> > Don Nickell <dnickell@icehouse.net> writes: > >Just curious, has anyone had the occasion to look into a little "deserted" > >town in the southwest looking for the title to one of the dilapidated > >buildings? Just wondering what's happened to the titles (bill-of-sale?) on > >some of those buildings. Did the banks lose money on foreclosures? I can > >imagine the property owner did. > > I haven't, but the deeds are usually recorded somewhere. Usually > that is at the county or state level, if the counties and states > were already defined. I doubt that the ownership of any of those > properties is a mystery. > > -- > Drew Lawson | It's not enough to be alive > drew@furrfu.com | when your future's been deferred

Thanks, Pat, that's what I was looking for. Hmmm...I doubt the counties don't get rich off those "investments." ;-) I know in Madrid, NM (south of Santa Fe) speculators have ranged from hippies to developers, depending on the year. Now Madrid is now complaining about the state putting a freeway (3 lane paved road) through the town... Pat wrote: > > Here in Nevada, the county takes them back for overdue taxes and then > can sell them in a lien sale. Often since they don't sell the county > just keeps them. Some have been bought by speculators. Several ghost > towns have been turned into parks to preserve the history, either by the > county or the state of Nevada. > > Pat

"Don Nickell" <dnickell@icehouse.net> wrote in message news:3C835364.B8CDC494@icehouse.net... > Just curious, has anyone had the occasion to look into a little "deserted" town in the southwest looking for the title to one of the dilapidated buildings? Just wondering what's happened to the titles (bill-of-sale?) on some of those buildings. Did the banks lose money on foreclosures? I can imagine the property owner did. > > I've an accquaintance back in NM who's ancestor formed the town of Hagerman. It's mostly deserted now, there are people living outside town on farms/ranches/etc. Hagerman, NM, like many in the SW (Vaughn, Taiban) are mostly deserted. > > As I say, just curios. I wouldn't even know where to look for any particular information other than county seats and I now live 1500 miles away. Title search at the County Clerk's office.

Tom of Bunyon wrote: > > "Don Nickell" <dnickell@icehouse.net> wrote in message > news:3C835364.B8CDC494@icehouse.net... > > Just curious, has anyone had the occasion to look into a little "deserted" > town in the southwest looking for the title to one of the dilapidated > buildings? Just wondering what's happened to the titles (bill-of-sale?) on > some of those buildings. Did the banks lose money on foreclosures? I can > imagine the property owner did. > > > > I've an accquaintance back in NM who's ancestor formed the town of > Hagerman. It's mostly deserted now, there are people living outside town on > farms/ranches/etc. Hagerman, NM, like many in the SW (Vaughn, Taiban) are > mostly deserted. > > > > As I say, just curios. I wouldn't even know where to look for any > particular information other than county seats and I now live 1500 miles > away. > > Title search at the County Clerk's office. Thanks, Tom. I know how to do that. But, as I said I'm not there and was asking for personal experiences on little, deserted, towns.