Hi, all, and thanks for the suggestions. Here's what I have done so far: called the treasurer's office and had the address on the tax bill changed back to my address and sent to me; called the office in the court house where title searches are done and asked the clerk to check the listing for my rental to make sure it was still in my name (it is); received a message from my attorney, who says he has no idea what it could be about; maybe someone has it in for me and wanted me to lose my property by not paying my taxes (have no idea who it could be, but you never know). I really think it is a clerical error, but I will definitely keep an eye on things. I have received the 1098 form from the bank (Mortgage Interest Statement). Thanks again.

Yes, Yes, get a title insurance policy! DH and I bought a cottage on the Susquehanna River from the owner in 2000 and about three months after we bought it, we came down to the cottage and saw a notice on the door, "House Being Sold for Unpaid Back Taxes"! HUH! This was a Sunday and DH rushed to the title insurance office on Monday and told them about the problem. They promptly paid the back taxes and that took care of it. Whew! The problem was that the previous owner had to purchase both the land and the cottage from two different owners. (A utility company had owned the land and rented out the cottages. There was a class action suit to permit the renters to buy the cottages and the land which was why the seller had to buy both.) The title insurance company only searched the title for the cottage, not the land. It was an honest mistake and the seller had no idea about the unpaid taxes because they kept sending the notices to the previous owner and she never notified the current owner. Anyway, I'm darn glad we purchased title insurance!

It will likely have utility easements as around here any property does that have power and water supplied to it. Generally they are at the edges of the property are you going to not buy it because of those? You could always make an offer with the conditions that the items you care about are satisfied. Then you can pay to have a survey done. In my area we always get title insurance and the common thing is for the seller to pay for it. During the title search any outstanding taxes, liens, etc. is generally found. A real estate attorney or title company can do this part. Not sure about a buried oil tank though as it isn't an issue where we live.

Chisue, at least in CA, most secondary liens (excluding taxes and the IRS) are wiped out at foreclosure. The logic here is that the lien is incurred after the financing, so holders are in a subordinate position to the lender. The association can pursue a judgement against the owner for the balance, but it can be difficult to collect, particularly if the owner has no other assets in the same state. The lender will be responsible for HOA dues and assessments from the time it takes possession until it resells the property, but not anything that accrued prior to the foreclosure.