10 Year Old Mortgage - No Foreclosure

[DeeWill]

I am looking for thoughts from any mortgage guru out there. 

I just discovered that the property I inherited has a mortgage on it from 1/2013.  The bank hasn't foreclosed and I cannot find a lien on the property for the original mortgage amount.  What does this mean? Is there a mortgage or not? Am I responsible for it or not? 

I don't know if this is the right place but any help is appreciated!!!

[StartingOver10]

If there is no lien on the property, how were you informed that there is a mortgage? Mortgages are written and recorded against the property. A mortgage is a lien against real property as opposed to personal property. Did you check public records or have a title search done or probate on the property? If you inherited the asset and it had a mortgage on it, then the debt is paid for by the estate. If the estate doesn't have the funds, then the property is sold to pay off the debt. There are special circumstances if you are a spouse. This is estate law and can get complex. Did you or another family member have an attorney handle the estate?

Interesting info:   "The word mortgage is a French Law term meaning "death pledge", meaning that the pledge ends (dies) when either the obligation is fulfilled or the property is taken through foreclosure" from Wikipedia

[DeeWill]

This was during the whole Hurricane Katrina debacle.  My sister and I went throught a free legal assitance company in New Orleans, it took from 2006 to 2008 to get the succession done.  The lawyer did everything and we inherited the home which was beyond repair with not enough insurance to make necessary repairs.  We were unaware that their was a mortgage on the property.  Fast forward to 2/2013 someone offfer to buy the property and we were attempting to sell, title search showed there was a lien with Key Bank that we were unaware of.  Tried to find out the status from Key Bank but they will not speak to us, they ask for the executor of the estate which we didn't have we were the only relatives left after my grandparents drowned.  I call the city and they told me the mortgage was issues in 12/2012 and assigned on 1/2013 and that's all I know.  We just want to get rid of the property, it's more of a headache then anything else, paying taxes for a useless place, yet we can't do anything because of this mortgage.

[DeeWill]

I keep typing the wrong dates 12/2002 and 1/2003

[StartingOver10]

So the mortgage was issued in 2002 and you were left the house in 2006 but it took until 2008 in order to get the estate settled?

It is very strange that the estate attorney wasn't aware there was a mortgage.

It would seem that there have been no payments since when, 2006?

Isn't the foreclosure completed by now? If the f/c is completed the property doesn't belong to you. You would need to get an actual attorney to review your paperwork to see where you stand with this particular property. I am not keen on 'free legal assistance' type companies as sometimes there are no attorney's involved. Get an actual attorney to review what you have and where you stand so you can either sell the property or know that it is f/c'ed.