California Foreclosures Legal Questions

Hi, What a strange story.  What I find important is that somehow title was changed and put in your dead husband's name as joint tenancy.  With whom?  With you? If so then it is your property.  I would need to know more about the property and the deeds relating to the property.... Read More

Your question is missing information. I can't believe that a mortgage wasn't recorded when you purchased the property. The grantors (sellers) don't record a mortgage. The lenders do. This would have appeared on your preliminary title report. Second, that mortgage should have been paid off when you purchased the house. (I am assuming that this was arms length transaction sale.)... Read More

Yes, if the buyer was a bona fide buyer who paid fair value and who had no notice of the lender before his/her purchase. But there may be some applicable exceptions. This is a VERY complicated area under Ca. foreclosure law, so make sure you consult with a lawyer who is very familiar with Ca foreclosure law, esp. CCP 726.... Read More

Once the lender files a notice of default, then there is a 90 day period before the bank can file a notice of trustee sale, after which the trustee sale can be held after 21 days.  So the shortest period of time would be 111 days, but in practice it takes longer.  I suggest that you communicate with the lender to inform them that you are selling the property.  You will have to show them a purchase agreement or escrow instructions.... Read More

Since you don't want the house, you may not need to do anything. Their 'charging off' the mortgage debt may mean that they waived any deficiency on the resale of the house. While that is often a good deal, you could wind up paying tax on a portion of the forgiven debt. Many tax preparers do not understand the limits of the applicable law. Ask your preparer to review sec. 108 of the Internal Revenue Code.... Read More

Your question is unclear. Have you already started a lawsuit to have the quitclaim deed voided? You are describing a clear case of elder abuse (Cal. Civ. Code 15600 et seq.) If she hasn't done so already, the lady should consult a lawyer about filing suit to have the entire transaction voided and for money damages.... Read More

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by your attorney putting a lien on the house. If you are talking about a lien to secure the attorney's fees for the partition suit, then yes you could sign an agreement to do that. Short of persuading your siblings to be reasonable, I am not aware of any way to sell the home without getting a judgment in a partition proceeding. You are allowed to sell just your one-third interest, but it is highly unlikely you could find a buyer for that. However, it appears that it would be easy to get your siblings served with summons and complaint and that they are not likely to file an answer or otherwise respond. In that event, you can obtain judgment by default in a relatively short time. Defendants have 30 days after being served to file an answer or other responsive pleading. At that point, you can apply for a default judgment. Since all you are asking for is a judgment of partition and there are no damages that need to be proved, you may be able to obtain judgment simply by submitting a sworn declaration without the need of a hearing (which could take a while to schedule). Or if necessary, your attorney may be able to file a motion and persuade the court to expedite the default judgment process.... Read More

It depends on the legal form of the ownership. The deed probably says that you and the other owner hold title as "tenants in common." In that case, either co-owner can sell his/her interest in the property or leave it to his heirs upon his death. On the other hand, if the deed says that you and the other owner hold title as "joint tenants," this means that upon the death of any owner, the surviving owners acquire the deceased owner's interest in equal shares. So, if there are three joint tenants and one dies, the two surviving owners now each own a one-half interest in the property. A joint tenant can sell his ownership share to a third party, but this destroys the joint tenancy and converts it into a tenancy in common among the other original owner and the buyer. The problem, of course, is finding a buyer who is willing to take partial ownership along with one or more strangers. The alternative is for you to commence a proceeding against the other owner in the Superior Court in the county in which the property is located by filing a Petition for Partition. You don't have to prove any good reason; you are entitled to the partition as a matter of right. In your case, if the parties cannot agree on what to do with the property, the court will order it to be sold and the net proceeds divided equally among the co-owners (or according to their respective percentage of ownership in the property). With a little help, you might be able to handle this yourself, but it would be much easier and quicker to hire an attorney. It could be that as soon as you serve the Petition and Summons on your co-owner, he will agree to sell rather than fight the lawsuit.... Read More

Losing a rental to foreclosure, is exact same thing as losing your primary residence or Homestead to foreclosure. Homestead exemptions do not work against mortgages. The most likely result will be that one the house is foreclosed and sold at auction, it will be sold for significantly more than is owed on the remainder of the mortgage including the deficiency payments. Most banks no longer even attempt to collect this money from the home owner, they simply reported as a loss on their taxes. This is a very bad situation for the homeowner, as this gets reported to the IRS on a 1099 form as you received the amount of money that you were deficient as income. Basically if you have a mortgage for $200,000 and your home is sold at auction for $100,000, you have a deficiency of $100,000. Now the bank will do two things either come after you, this is very unlikely at this point in time, most likely the bank will simply reported as a loss to the IRS. The problem with this is you will be assessed taxes as if you made an extra $100,000 in that calendar year that the bank reported the deficiency. Once the IRS has assessed this on your taxes, bankruptcy will not be as helpful. To prevent this from happening you should file either a chapter 7 bankruptcy or a chapter 13 bankruptcy prior to the foreclosure sale. You're not attempting to keep your home, you just want to remove your obligation on the debt prior to the foreclosure sale so you do not get any tax ramifications. There are ways to write off tax debt, but they are extremely difficult and there are waiting period involved. The best recourse when you know you are going to be foreclosed upon and cannot get out of foreclosure, would be to file bankruptcy and remove the obligation of the debt prior to being foreclosed. I have responded to your inquiry according to the laws of Massachusetts, where my firm is located. Laws can vary significantly from state to state and cases tend to be rather fact-specific, so you are best served by consulting with a knowledgeable attorney in weighing your options. Email messages/Online Correspondence are akin to conversations and do not reflect the level of analysis applied to formal legal opinions. Email/Online responses do not form an attorney-client relationship.    Joseph F. Botelho, Esq. BOTELHO LAW GROUP Attorneys At Law http://fallriverbankruptcyattorney.com/ 901 Eastern Ave.  Unit 2 Fall River, MA 02723  Office:  888-269-0688 FAX:    877-475-8147 #bankruptcy  #lawyer  #FallRiver  #Chapter7  #chapter13  #debt  #debtsettlement  #foreclosure  #attorney   #cantpaybills  #lawsuit  #court  #bankruptcycourt  #eviction  #lostmyjob... Read More