Paid Off Home Years Ago; Frankfort Family Left Stuck With no Deed

FRANKFORT, Ind. — An Indiana family is trapped in a multi-year legal limbo, claiming they have spent nearly seven years trying to obtain the deed to their home after completely paying off their land contract.

Yolanda, a resident of Frankfort, is speaking out about her family’s struggle with local property owners Gracie and Jose (Lupe) Balderas. According to Yolanda, she and her husband purchased their historic Victorian home on a land contract from the Balderases in 2013 for $60,000. Despite making their final payment in 2020, they have yet to receive the official deed to the property.

“We’ve had our house paid off since 2020 and we’re still paying the house taxes on it,” Yolanda said. “They’re still getting the benefits for it.”

The dispute dates back to 2019 when Yolanda said the Balderases attempted to seize the house, claiming the family had fallen behind on payments. Yolanda explains that because her husband worked directly for Jose Balderas’s landscaping business, many house payments were paid via trade and unrecorded cash hand-offs.

“My husband would give the money to Jose,” Yolanda noted. “He wouldn’t record it or give it to Gracie. So they tried to take our house. We had to pay $9,400 to get it so they wouldn’t take it.”

The financial strain hasn’t stopped there. Because the property registration remains entirely under the Balderas name, Yolanda’s family cannot claim any homeowner property tax credits. They are forced to call the courthouse directly just to find out what they owe, shell out upwards of $2,500 per tax cycle in cash and card payments, while the Balderases reap the tax benefits.

When pressed for the paperwork, Gracie Balderas reportedly claimed the deed was tied up at a local law firm. “I have it in text message where she says the deed is at the lawyer’s office… when he gets done with COVID,” Yolanda said. “And that was back like three years ago and still nothing.”

The attorney associated with the original paperwork, identified by Yolanda as a Mr. Schaeffer of Frankfort, has since retired and closed his office, leaving the couple with no clear path forward. Yolanda says recent attempts to call or text Gracie Balderas have been met with complete silence.

Frustrated by the delays, Yolanda filed a report with the Frankfort Police Department last year. While an initial officer gave the sellers a two-week ultimatum to produce the deed, a subsequent officer dismissed the issue as a civil matter for small claims court, effectively closing the police investigation.

Without a deed, the family lives in constant fear that their home could be taken away at any moment, halting plans to renovate the aging Victorian structure.

“We want to fix it up, but why, if we don’t have the deed, they can come in,” Yolanda said. “They can basically come in any time and say, ‘Well, this house is mine still.’”

Further raising eyebrows is the family’s experience at the county courthouse.

Yolanda notes that county staff are already well-aware of the sellers’ names when she goes to pay the bills, suggesting this may not be an isolated incident. Meanwhile, the Balderases are reportedly active in local social media groups, building and listing new rental and sale properties across Frankfort.

When Yolanda’s daughter commented on one of those public posts to warn others, she was promptly blocked. The family states they are currently holding onto all text logs, tax documentation, and a final receipt showing a zero-dollar balance in hopes that media attention or eventual legal aid will force the transfer of their deed.

Multiple attempts to reach Gracie and Jose Balderas for comment—including phone calls and direct messages—were not returned. However, official records from the Clinton County Recorder’s and Assessor’s offices confirm that Jose Balderas remains the legal deed holder of the property, with no record transferring ownership to Yolanda’s family. For now, the family remains stuck with all the responsibilities of homeownership, but none of the legal protections, left waiting for a resolution to a decade-long ordeal.