Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

You need to clarify some things and repost your question. First and foremost you need to clarify your interest in the property. You can't just go find a property owned by dead people and claim it via a quiet title action if you don't have grounds for title to be quieted in your name. You also need to clarify if you have looked into whether a probate has been opened for the owners, and if not why not, who the heirs are, etc. On the mortgage issue, it is common for mortgage companies to require borrowers to include a monthly payment toward property taxes in with their monthly mortgage payment. The mortgage servicing company then holds those funds in escrow and pays the taxes when due. In order for that to happen, however, a) there must be a deed of trust in place that is being paid off - so it sounds like your title research may be faulty, and b) there must be someone making mortgage payments and including the money to pay the taxes. You also say the property "has been abandoned," but legally property cannot be "abandoned." Someone owns it legally, most likely the heirs of the deceased owners, even if they don't know they own it. Lastly, there is no way the mortgage company owns it unless you found a foreclosure and a trustee's deed to the mortgage company in the chain of title. Again, this raises the question of how effective your title research has been.