Verifying landlord information before renting... (San Diego: real estate, foreclosure, rent)

[thepinksquid]

Next week my husband I are flying out to San Diego to finalize our living arrangements for when we move May 1 (yay!). Anyhow, many of the places I've found off Craigslist -- some through agencies/realtors, some through private owners. Before we give anyone a dime, or sign anything at all, I want to be 100% sure that everything is legit.

Here in Florida it's very easy to look up on county websites information for home ownership in the state. California I'm finding isn't so open with that information. I would like to be able to verify the home's owner, and also contact the bank the mortgage is through to verify that everything is okay on that end. Also, if possible, I'd like to contact (if applicable) the neighborhood's HOA to see if there's any outstanding issues there.

So, has anyone does this? I would greatly appreciate if anyone knows of any resources to aid me in the verification process.

Thanks!

[loveautumn]

Could be wrong, but I kind of doubt that a bank would give you (as a renter) information on an owner's mortgage. I understand your concern though, because you could rent a house that might be going into foreclosure sometime and then you'd be out. I really don't know how you can protect yourself from that but it does happen here. Renting anyplace sight unseen is pretty risky. What area is the home?

[thepinksquid]

Originally Posted by loveautumn

Could be wrong, but I kind of doubt that a bank would give you (as a renter) information on an owner's mortgage. I understand your concern though, because you could rent a house that might be going into foreclosure sometime and then you'd be out. I really don't know how you can protect yourself from that but it does happen here. Renting anyplace sight unseen is pretty risky. What area is the home?

Yeah, I was somewhat thinking the same thing...

We're not renting sight unseen. We're flying out on Sunday to pick between a few townhomes that we're considering. We have appointments to view the units/meet with the landlords.

I was just curious before in FL there's websites where you can easily see owner information on properties with a simple search (example, Lee County Property Line).

[BennyPhoenix]

You can find the name and address of the owner of a property through property tax records, which are public. I dont know how easily they are available online.
Dont be surprised if the name is a Trust, corp, LLC or some other legal entity.

[ketkeo47]

they are easily available on line...go to this link : [url=http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/be/information-requests.htm]Information Requests - Business Entities - California Secretary of State[/url] ..we found out that we have been paying rent for two year to a company that have a SUSPENDED license.

[moved]

The OP has been living in San Diego for quite sometime now.

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by moved

The OP has been living in San Diego for quite sometime now.

Yeah, it looks like this is a really old post but in case anyone sees it... you can look up property owners here:

https://www.sdctreastax.com/ebpp3/(z...55)/Start.aspx

I've looked at tons of houses online and I haven't noticed many with LLC's. At least the ones we have been looking at are all under the owner's names or a living trust that is still under the owner's names. I would have thought in California, that more people would be taking advantage of buying properties with out of State LLC's but that doesn't seem to be the case except for a few...

[moved]

I looked up my slumlord, and he's not on there. Interesting.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by moved

I looked up my slumlord, and he's not on there. Interesting.

moved,

Thats not good if your landlord is not the County tax website. Lots of fraud going on right now. The address box can be testy though if the exact address isnt entered. It doesnt tell you if it was incorrect, it just can come up looking the same as having no record. My tip to you is to leave the optional field out (eg. Street, Place, Avenue) and just type in building or house address (no suite or unit number) and zip code.

Better investigate further or you may be paying rent to someone that technically doesnt even own the property anymore and there may be a notice on the door to vacate from the Sheriff's office. I have seen it happen before to my neighbors who were renting downtown in a condo.

[moved]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

moved,

Thats not good if your landlord is not the County tax website. Lots of fraud going on right now. The address box can be testy though if the exact address isnt entered. It doesnt tell you if it was incorrect, it just can come up looking the same as having no record. My tip to you is to leave the optional field out (eg. Street, Place, Avenue) and just type in building or house address (no suite or unit number) and zip code.

Better investigate further or you may be paying rent to someone that technically doesnt even own the property anymore and there may be a notice on the door to vacate from the Sheriff's office. I have seen it happen before to my neighbors who were renting downtown in a condo.

He's a real estate agent with his own business and property management company, along with having a general contractor's license.so I know that he owns it, along with several other properties. I also put in his address (home) that he uses for his real estate business, and it also didn't show up. He claims that he has no employees, but he has two Hispanic guys that work for him all the time, and a manager that gets a free cottage.

I'll try your way, and see if anything comes up.