Quiet Title Laws Allow Seizure of Some Midwest Homes

Some people in the Midwest are losing their homes because of a loophole in "quiet title" laws. Law experts say real estate opportunists are claiming that homes are abandoned, and are using the loophole to grab the home when homeowners are away. There are reports that this has been happening in Iowa but that quiet title laws in several states could be used to do the same thing. Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review. Iowa Public Radio broke the story about a homeowner in Marshalltown, Iowa, outside of Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. (1) Natalia Esteban had purchased the home in 2001 with her ex-husband, before they divorced. She moved to California in 2018, but kept the house in Marshalltown where she returned each summer. Big Surprise for the Homeowner Esteban's daughter, Maria Kendall, lived in Marshalltown with her family and noticed a listing on Zillow one day, for her mom's house. Her mother was in California at the time, so Kendall called her mom to ask about the listing. It was a big surprise for Esteban who wasn't selling the house. They discovered that Esteban had lost the title, and the new owner had put the home up for sale. So how did the title transfer to whoever was selling her home? It's called "quiet title action" and is used to settle disputes over who owns a piece of property. There could be a dispute over a boundary, or who owns a home after the owner dies, or any number of things. In Esteban's case, Catherine Gooding petitioned for title of Estaban's home claiming the home was abandoned. She also claimed to have a tax certificate that proved Gooding was the new owner. As required by the quiet title law, she published notification of the title dispute three times in the local newspaper. You know, the kind of small-print listings that most people probably wouldn't see, let alone Esteban who was in California at the time. Even if she had looked at the paper, she may have missed it because she's not fluent in English. But Gooding followed the law and won her case by default because Esteban failed to show up in court. Loophole In Quiet Title Laws Legal experts say the loophole has two issues that make it somewhat easy to snatch the title on a home. The first issue is a vaguely written law on how a person can challenge ownership of a property. It requires that the person petitioning for title must have an interest in the property, but it reportedly doesn't provide details. The second issue is how the homeowner is contacted about the title dispute. The small-print notifications in the newspaper meet the legal requirement, but don't do a very good job at notifying homeowners, especially if they are not home at the time and are immigrants who are not fluent in English. Esteban's daughter told Iowa Public Radio that if she hadn't seen the listing on Zillow: "We would never have found out the house was sold. My mother would have come back to Iowa in the summer and she would have found out she doesn't have a house." Esteban went to court to fight for her home. It was revealed during that case, that Gooding had applied for a tax certificate but had never been granted one. The title ended up going back to Esteban, but unfortunately, she lost everything inside the home. The radio station says she lost many photos and family heirlooms from her native Mexico. Weak Quiet Title Laws In Several States The radio station reports that Gooding used the quiet title law to acquire more than 40 properties in the Marshalltown area. She did not respond to a request for comment but as the radio station points out, she followed a law with very few parameters. As for how often this happens overall, it's difficult to track because there's no code in the Iowa court system for "quiet title" transfers. In addition to Iowa, other states that have weak quiet title laws include Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas. Legal experts are worried about this happening to other homeowners. Kansas City real estate attorney Mike White says he's seen many quiet title cases during his 50 years in the business. He says: "I'd say the average person knows absolutely nothing about quiet titles." And he says that quiet title laws throughout the Midwest don't do much to protect non-English speakers. Title insurance can protect homeowners from a dispute like this. While lenders require it, title insurance is optional for homeowners without a mortgage. (2) If you'd like to read more about this topic, you'll find links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You can visit our Learning Center while you are there and join our network for access to our Investor Portal. It's free to join. Members can look at sample property pro-formas, and connect with our experienced investment counselors. The portal also offers access to property teams, lenders, 1031 exchange facilitators, attorneys, CPAs and more. Thanks for listening, and please remember to hit the subscribe button, and leave a review! Links: 1 - https://www.iowapublicradio.org/ipr-news/2022-02-08/this-family-almost-lost-their-home-over-iowas-little-known-quiet-title-law 2 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2022/02/15/quiet-title-law-used-to-dupe-people-out-of-homes