Smart approach, buyer beware. ;)
The one thing that I keep wondering is if he's picking up a property that had no mortgage for a few thousand dollars why didn't the prior owner borrow against it for the amount due on the taxes and sell it for whatever he/she could get?
That’s a good question ... and the part that he may be “leaving out” is that there is a lien on the property (from the mortgage holder) even though he’s officially “the owner” ...
People do tend to leave out some “details” when they’re “telling a story” ... :-)