Buying a house from a felon.

[Anonymous]

So I noticed when we were doing the contract that the seller's wife was signing for both herself and her husband. When I googled his name, I discovered that he was in prison for various crimes. I asked our realtor, and she confirmed that he's in prison and that his wife has legal permission to sign all documents for him.

Is there anything I'm missing here? Are we exposing ourselves to any legal problems? Should I somehow confirm that the wife has permission to sign everything? I'm just checking because we are very close to closing.

[Anonymous]

Yes, ask to see her power of attorney documentation.

[Anonymous]

Change the locks as soon as you take possession.

[Anonymous]

Depending on the crime you could have some unsavory visitors.

[Anonymous]

get owner's title insurance. Only way to truly protect yourself against later ownership issues.

[Anonymous]

What crimes?

[Anonymous]

What neighborhood

[Anonymous]

Wow, you're nosy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depending on the crime you could have some unsavory visitors.

+1

[Anonymous]

OP here: he ran a car theft ring and apparently had a few guns he wasn't supposed to have! We're getting title insurance but I think I'll check the power of attorney documentation and make sure.

[Anonymous]

OP, this would freak me out a bit.

[Anonymous]

The company doing the closing will already check power of attorney.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Oh you're right pp! As far as being freaked out by this, I've sort of gotten over it. I don't imagine this guy will get out of prison and be like "time for me to visit my old house!" I asked around the neighborhood, and none of the neighbors even knew anything shady was going on. Only one knew that the FBI had visited the house. The previous owners maintained the house very nicely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Oh you're right pp! As far as being freaked out by this, I've sort of gotten over it. I don't imagine this guy will get out of prison and be like "time for me to visit my old house!" I asked around the neighborhood, and none of the neighbors even knew anything shady was going on. Only one knew that the FBI had visited the house. The previous owners maintained the house very nicely.

Once you get above the "addicted themselves" level of crime, you'll find most of this sort of element don't want to shit where they eat. From our time in Parkway (South Arlington) the drug dealer and the 12 to a house Hispanics were the better neighbors, because they *wanted* to lie low.

It was the otherwise-legal group of moochers and the extended family that disliked anyone further out than their first cousins that were the biggest PITAs.

Or, think about the Sopranos.