You are missing it here.
The court is supposed to decide between 2 parties, correct?
If 2 parties are not present (as is the case in nearly all of these cases) then the court should require that clear authority is established by the plaintiff, meaning they have to research title at appraiser and PROVE they have claim and have that claim verified.
Establishing ownership in property is the job of the government. I don't care if "its been that way for decades".
And again, this is a DATA ISSUE. Even when you describe this, it is a DATA ISSUE.
A simple verification of the DATA in this case would have shown the bank had no claim and the appraiser's office should have been empowered to reject that claim.
It should be DAMNED HARD for a lien or judgement to be entered against a property. (and no, not all of my sales/purchases have been clean title). Just because "its always been that way" doesn't mean 1) it should be that way and 2) it has to stay that way.
And the appraisers systems should be capable of doing this in a clear fashion. They have no problem sending the current owner a tax bill...and expecting it to be paid. I should have no problem, then, expecting them to know EXACTLY who owns a property.
