Researching property on GIS. What is a trustee?

Silver Chronicles · Nov 5, 2012

I drove by a boarded up house the other day on a road that is close to my house. I never drive on this road, but when I noticed the house, I looked it up on historic arials and my local gis. It was there well back into the 50's, so it is a good spot. I looked on gis to see who owned it and noticed it was owned by a trustee. My question is, what is a trustee? Is it like an inheritance or something? It is clear that no one lives there. Thanks!

HH Michael

Jason in Enid · Nov 5, 2012

Yes, if it is owned by a trustee then its something to do with inheritance. It doesn't mean that one person owns it, more like a group of brothers/sister/grandkids, etc. They all share in the upkeep costs and if it ever sells then they all split the profits.

cudamark · Nov 5, 2012

Yup, the property is part of a trust. The trustee makes the decisions about the trust. Could be a family trust or corporation. You'd have to contact the trustee to get permission. Offer to pick up any trash on the lot in exchange for permission to search. You'd want to do that anyway to make your hunting easier and it shows the trustee that you aren't just some knucklehead that's going to tear up their property.