Ask the neighbors?

Arwen Long wrote:
This topic has come up a few times before -- I have been driving past a
house that looks abandoned but has a bit of a garden and want to
transplant some flowers. There isn't a construction sign or such: is there
a city government office that could tell me who holds the deed to the
house? I think it must have been a foreclosure or bankruptcy or something
since I the house hasn't been for sale...

Any ideas?

Arwen