If you can't find the previous owner to execute a corrective and confirmatory deed then you must bring a Quiet Title action in a court of equity and obtain a judgment. Only a court order can clear the title.
You should check to see if you paid for a certification of title or an owner's title insurance policy when you purchased the property. If you paid for professional representation at the time of your purchase perhaps they are responsible for clearing the title. Title coverage that insures over the defect is not a cure. It's a band-aid.
Usually the owner of the property is the one that pays the property taxes on the owners property. Some time the mortgage company will pay them from a escrow account but the money that is in the escrow account comes from the property owners monthly payments.
Yes, a title company can keep escrow funds. Companies like escrow and escrowlion.com can keep your funds in their escrow account. I'll recommend escrowlion.com for any online transaction. They also have good customer care service. PS: I do not work with escrowlion.com. My answers are based on experience.
The Escrow Company is in the real estate industry. Basically, the escrow is the money held by a third party on behalf of a transacting party. In the USA its specifiacally used in real estate for property tax and insurance.
Escrow generally refers to money held by a third party on behalf of transacting parties. Escrow services are typically used during private property transactions to hold solicitors clients money, until the transaction is complete.
An escrow account is an account controlled by someone who is not a party to the transaction (often a broker in a real estate transaction or one party's attorney in a business transaction) for holding funds on behalf of the parties until the consummation or termination of a transaction or the happening of some specifically identified event.
An escrow is a third party that oversees the transaction of buying or selling a home. Essentially it ensures that the transaction happens smoothly and both parties are satisfied.
Escrow is a a deposit of money and instruments by two or more persons with a third person, which are held by him until certain conditions are met. The process by which a complex sale exchange or loan transaction involving real property is brought to completion.
Escrow account is used to pay the taxes and insurance of the property
Usually a title company or a lending institution do this. That is because there are laws regarding funds held in escrow, not to mention the fine points of the law regarding the transaction, that most do not know.
It depends upon the nature of the lien and who is the holder of the escrow account. If the property is being held in escrow by the lender, then yes, the placement of a lien is possible.
There are two main types of real estate closings for purchases of residential properties. One is the traditional closing and the other is an escrow closing. In traditional closing states, like Georgia for example, the buyer and seller and any other interested parties come to the closing table at the appointed time for the transaction, sign all necessary documents and the transaction is completed. The property title changes hands and the money (lender's or buyer's) changes hands as well. In traditional closing states on a purchase there is one closing and funds disbursement which finalizes the transaction which is generally referred to only as "the closing". In an escrow state, like California for example, all of the stipulations for the transfer of the property and funds are cleared prior to the day of closing. Important documents and funds are held "in escrow" by the assigned escrow agent until the time of the closing. If all stipulations have been met according to the escrow instructions (created between seller, buyer and lender) the closing is final, all funds are disbursed and the sale is final. The closing is generally referred to as an "closing of escrow". Not to be confused with with other types of escrow the escrow closing includes all documents and monies required to facilitate the loan. Escrow may also mean earnest money given to the buyer's agent during the contract period which is applied to the closing costs or purchase price. Escrow may also mean funds held by the escrow agent after the closing to be applied to an upgrade or repair on the property being purchased. Finally, and very importantly in any state, there is lender's escrow. This is a specified amount of funds held by the lender to cover the cost of taxes and insurance on the property being financed. Many times the property owner can ask to have escrows waived which some lenders facilitate for a slightly increased interest rate to help mitigate the risk. In this case the lender will require proof of insurance and taxes being up to date on the property. See a list of escrow states at the related link provided below.
It largely depends on the terms of the sale. An all cash transaction is the fastest, since it narrows things down to the survey and other title company requirements to close. If there is a loan involved, the transaction doubles in complexity with the addition of the lender. Both can take six weeks or so, depending on how responsive the buyer is to the needs of the lender, the availability of an appraiser and so on.