California Real Estate Legal Questions

I agree with Richard Samuel Price that the best legal protection would be a revocable living trust. She can change it later, if she changes her mind. Upon her death, it will save her heirs from the delays, expense and annoyance of court probate proceedings. It can include a provision for a successor trustee or even an temporary trustee, if her illness prevents her from being able to take care of her financial affairs. The trust should be notarized, but that's not an absolute requirement. The deed of her home or other real property will need to be notarized. While you, your mother and an attorney are getting this done, including getting a deed prepared, signed, notarized and recorded, a quick and easy solution is the statutory power of attorney for financial affairs and the statutory power of attorney for health care decisions in the California Probate Code. Such powers last only while the person granting them is still alive. They must be notarized. There are traveling notaries who will come to her home or hospital. Do NOT deed the property to any family member or friend. When she passes away, whoever inherits the property will be entitled to a stepped-up basis for the purpose of computing any capital gains tax. If your mother has owned the property a long time, this could be a lot of money. If she gives it to any of you while she is alive, you will be stuck with her old, low tax basis, which is the price she paid for the property plus any major expansions or improvements she paid for. Dana Sack  ... Read More

Do you have a written lease or rental agreement? If so, do what it says. The rent goes to the owner of the home. Until someone tells you that the owner has changed, or that the owner has directed that the rent be paid to someone else, or a court orders that the rent be paid to someone else, keep paying the rent as you have been. Keep a copy of every check. Keep a copy of each bank statement which shows that the rent check has been cashed and paid. If your bank let's you, download, print out and keep a copy of each endorsed-paid check. You only have to pay the rent once. If it goes to the wrong person, the right person needs to get it back from the wrong person. If someone tells you to send the rent to a new person, send a letter to both the new person and the prior person, that you will be complying with their instruction, unless you hear back from the prior person that he claims you are supposed to pay the rent to him. If they disagree, then one of them should be able to send you a copy of either a marital settlement agreement signed by both of them, or a court order, either of which tells you who is supposed to get the rent. Do not withhold the rent. If you receive a 3-day-notice-to-pay-rent-or-quit, aka an eviction notice, DO COMPLY. Otherwise, you could lose your lease and right to live there. If you don't have a lease, be very careful to be cooperative. You're a month-to-month tenant and could be terminated at any time. Even with a lease, unless you're in a rent-controlled just-cause city, the landlord, whoever that turns out to be, can kick you out at the end of the lease term. So be diplomatic and helpful. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack  ... Read More

You can open one now. If you are going to be the only owner and investor, then under California law, you do not need to have an Operating Agreement. Who are you going to agree with? Nonetheless, banks and title companies always want to see an Operating Agreement for even a single owner LLC. So if you're going to be in the real estate business, you might need one, anyway. If you're going to have other owners, you must have an Operating Agreement. If you are going to have investors who are not going to be actively involved in the business, then you'll need some documents to make sure that your member interests do not need to be registered with the SEC or under the state securities laws of the states where the investors live. We handle those 5 items for $1500.00. The Articles of Organization, a simple Operating Agreement, a simple Subscription Agreement and Investor Questionnaire, and the California 25102f Notice of Transaction. We would charge $300.00 per hour for any additional services. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack... Read More

Since the home is in Oklahoma, the law governing what amounts you can add to the principal and interest you require be paid to you in order to get you to release teh lien of your mortgage, is Oklahoma law. You need to ask an Oklahoma attorney. Under California law, you would only be allowed to add late fees or other charges if either the promissory note or loan agreement secured by the deed of trust or the deed of trust itself, included provisions imposing such late fees or other charges. The exception to that is that if you have already recorded a Notice of Default or Notice of Sale, there are fees set by law in the Civil Code which can be added to the payoff amount. If you can't add them to the amount you are going to be paid in exchange for releasing the lien of your mortgage, then you aren't going to be allowed to add them any other way, either. Either you can collect them from the sales proceeds or you can't collect them at all. The mortgage is already a lien on the house. The title company probably will not close escrow until you and the seller agree on a payoff amount. If the title company closes escrow without paying you off in full, then you can still foreclose. You better be right about the payoff amount. If the sellers are unable to close escrow, because you refuse to accept the correct amount, then the sellers will be in breach of their agreement with the buyers. You could end up liable to the sellers for whatever they end up owing to the buyers for breach of contract. If the buyers walk away and the sellers end up selling the house for a lower price, you could be held liable for the difference, if you were wrong about the payoff amount. So you have strong leverage to get paid the amount you are entitled to under your loan documents, but there could be expensive consequences if you demand more than you're actually entitled to. If any of the amounts you want to charge are not specifically names as allowed in the loan documents, you better either drop them or consult with an Oklahoma attorney. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack      ... Read More

Read your lease. The responsibility is one whomever the lease says. There are no statutes or judicial decisions establishing who does it or who pays for it. Many leases say that the landlord does it and the tenant pays for it. If you don't have a lease or the lease doesn't say, then lawyers would look to things said during the negotiations, what has been done in the past, and what happens with other tenants in the same project, if there are any. If there really is nothing, then whoever needs and wants it fixed is going to have to get it done and pay for it. Dana  Sack  ... Read More

Everything that you have described is a normal request.  You haven't described anything that is out of the ordinary for a real estate sales transaction in California. Yes, there is a withholding tax of 3.33% in California of the gross sales amount for residents and nonresidents alike. If you want the escrow company to wire the proceeds to you, they need your bank routing and account numbers.   A statement of information from the title company will ask a lot of personal information from you, such as your ssn# and driver's license number.... Read More

Name the document a "Corrective Grant Deed"   Under the legal description, you can write: This corrective grant deed is recorded for the sole purpose of correcting the (erroneous name of the grantee, or whatever your correction is) of that certain grant deed dated ________ (date) and recorded ________ (date) in ________ County official records as instrument number ________.   Here is an article that I wrote discussing transferring property: http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc/transferring-real-estate-documents-required ... Read More

Before giving you a legal answer, I would want to review your CC&Rs to make sure exactly how your Units and Common Area are defined. In many modern condominiums, they are set up the way your HOA has told you. The HOA is responsible for all of the common area, including the exterior, the hallways, and the plumbing and electrical inside the walls. Ordinarily, the HOA should be responsible for damage to the inside of your unit caused by a failure of its common area plumbing. However, some CC&Rs specifically cancel such liability and require Unit owners to carry HO6 coverage. Maybe the HOA is right and maybe not. There are lots of different ways CC&Rs for different HOAs deal with such issues. It is possible that the property management company hired by the HOA assumes that's how your CC&Rs work, because that's how the CC&Rs for other HOAs work. Someone needs to carefully review your CC&Rs to determine which flavor you have. Your HO6 carrier will figure out whether or not you and it are entitled to reimbursement from the HOA or its insurer. Once your HO6 carrier pays you, then it can pursue your claim against the HOA for reimbursement, if you have one. That's called "subrogation." Who says your HO6 insurance company won't pay for a second claim? If they issue the policy and accept the premium, then it has to pay anything covered by the policy. If they write an exclusion for water damage, go to another insurance company. That's one of the principal reasons for having an HO6. Your HO6 carrier will figure out whether or not you and it are entitled to reimbursement from the HOA or its insurer. Once your HO6 carrier pays you, then it can pursue your claim against the HOA for reimbursement, if you have one. That's called "subrogation." If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack    ... Read More

I suggest that you bo back to www.lawyers.com and look for an attorney who specializes in representing tenants. Someone like that might have a different perspective. Even though you appear to be the victim of the man who "rented" you the house and took your money for the deposit and rent, as far as the true owner is concerned, you're just a trespasser. In theory, the owner must serve you with an eviction notice, and if you don't leave, then the owner must sue you and get a couirt order before teh sheriff can evict you, and that takes 2-3 months. However, in the meantime, that eviction lawsuit will show up on your credit report. Some landlords will not rent to you when they see that. You need to find a new home ASAP. In the meantime, try to get in touch with the new owner, explain your situation, and try to work something out with them. Maybe the new owner will accept rent for a month or two, but realize the loan payment, taxes and insurnnce cost more than what you were paying in rent. Dana... Read More

Why did the HOA's insurance company pay for the repairs? If the repairs were the HOA's responsiblity, then why aren't the damage to the two units and the tenants' expenses also covered under the HOA's liability policy? The cost of having a lawyer find this out for you, by subpenaing the records of the insurance company and the contractor, could easily exceed $10,000.00. If it turned out that the HOA and the insurance company are correct, then you would also owe them reimbursement for their attorneys fees. So you could end up with an attorneys fees bill of $20,000 or $30,000. However, you're correct that this does not sound right. If the HOA is at fault for the failure of its water pipe, why are you responsible for the tenants' expenses. Good luck. Dana  ... Read More

Since you know about the crack, it is your responsibility to figure out how bad it is, whether it can be fixed, whether it can be fixed economically, and whether or not to buy the property. The seller has satisfied its obligation to make sure you know about it. Whether or not you need a structural engineer in addition to a general contractor is not a legal question. It really depends on the qualifications of the contractor and your confidentce in him. I know some contractors whose opinions I would accept on this issue. Others, I would want to hear from an engineer. If you're asking, you should probably get an engineer to assess the situation, too. If the problem is water, how is the repair going to prevent it from happening, if it ever rains again? If a new buyer will not be able to see the crack after the repair, because it will have been covered up, then you will have an affirmative duty to disclose it. In theory, if it really has been fixed, then nothing will ever happen and no one will ever have any reason to sue you about it. What if the fix doesn't work? What if the contractor is wrong? Then it will be something you should have disclosed to the buyer. I recommend disclosing all repairs. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack... Read More

Yes. When you separated, the property converted from community property to tenants-in-common. As tenants-in-common, yes, he can come onto the property anytime and even live there. He can petition a court to partition the property. Except for large parcels which might be subdivided, that means selling the property and dividing the money. Yes, selling the house or buying him out are the only options. You might be able to get a restraining order to keep him out of the house, but that might only be available after an act or threat of violence. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack    ... Read More

Yes, if you have been using the driveway openly and notoriously for more than 5 years, then you have acquired an easemetn by prescription. Unfortunately, the only way to defend and enforce that easemetn will probably be a lawsuit. Don't block the driveway with your bulldozer. Judge's hate that kind of unilateral action. Right now, you are the victim, and this is an age when victims win. You might try mediation, first. That's where a neutral third party tries to negotiate a settlement and compromise between the two sides. The mediator does not decide who is right or wrong, but he is likely to tell both sides something about their likelihood of successs an the cost. As part of the settlement, you and your neighbors could have an agreement regarding keeping up the road and paying shares for its upkeep and maybe installing and maintaining a security gate. That will be a lot less expensive than a lawsuit. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack      ... Read More

You have asked for $12,935 in repairs, and they have offered you $7000? The difference is $5,935? How much is that as a percentage of the purchase price? Is it even more than 1%? For that, don't risk losing your closing date, your move in date, or your loan. If after you move in, you still feel really strongly about it, you can always try to get them to reimburse you, then. Check your contract. It might require mediation before arbitration or a lawsuit. This is a good case for mediation. If arbitration is not required, you can still ask them to agree to arbitration. It will be faster and cheaper than a lawsuit. If that doesn't work, you can sue them in small claims court for up to $10,000. One odd part of choosing small claims court is that you as the plaintiff cannot appeal. The defendant can appeal and automatically get a whole new trial, and the second time lawyers are allowed. Don't be in a hurry. After you have lived there for a few months, you might find other undisclosed and previously undetectable defects. It's still a tough case. The general rule is all agreements and amendments regarding a real estate purchase must be in writing. There are some exceptions. One is where you do something to your detriment or cost in reliance upon the other side's oral agreement, and they knew it. They might try to say they never agreed. They might argue that you waived the claim by closing escrow. They should lose that last defense, but you never know. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack... Read More

Your CC&Rs should include provisions for Internal Dispute Resolution and for mediation. If not, the Davis Stirling Act requires both, anyway. IDR usually involves the HOA Board appointing one of its members to meet with you, hear your complaint, and try to work something out. Mediation involves an outside third party neutral coming in and trying to negotiate a compromise settlement between the two sides. A mediator does not decide who is right and wrong, but in order to persuade both sides to compromise, a mediator is likely to point out the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. If I were your attorney, I would start by hiring a contractor with special expertise in waterproofing and roofing, have him inspect the problem, take lots of pictures, and prepare a report of what's wrong, what repairs are required, and what it will cost. I would give that to the HOA Board and request that the repairs be approved and implemented immediately. After that, I would invokethe IDR and mediation provisions described above. If that doesn't work, I would not do anything else without having an attorney carefully review the CC&Rs and the report. The Business Judgment Doctrine gives the HOA Board very broad discretion in deciding which repairs to do and how to do them. A judge will not second-guess such a decision unless you can convince the judge that the Board has abused its discretion. Abuse of discretion is a very high standard. Almost all HOA CC&Rs include an attorney fees provision. That means that if you take this dispute to arbitration or a lawsuit and lose, you will be required to reimburse the HOA for all of its attorney fees and expenses. In a recent appeal, the homeowner lost the original case, and in the appeal got the amount he had to pay to reimburse the HOA for its attorney fees reduced from $1.4 million ot $740,000.00. And the HOA can enforce such an award by selling your home, without going to court to do so, and charge you with those attorney fees, too. So be very very sure you are going to win. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts,  and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack  ... Read More

Your CC&Rs should provide an Interrnal Dispute Resolution process. This usually involves having the Board appoint someone to negotiate with you. There should also be a provision for mediation. The new millenium is the age of victims. Do not try to bully or intimidate them. There was a time when that could work, but not anymore. You need to spin this that you are a senior. You did the best you could. You can't afford to replace the roof. It's a nice looking new roof. A new roof is always an upgrade for the whole neighborhood. Engage and involve the Board, so that maybe they'll help or let it slide. How about painting the roof? Don't ignore the HOA. They have the power to impose huge fines, lots more than $25 per week. And they have the power to sell your home in order to collect them, and add the cost of the attorney fees and expenses to accomplish all of that. As expensive as even painting the roof might be, the HOA really can make youdo it. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Good luck. Dana Sack  ... Read More

If you are the only one who is on title, then you can sell the property without anyone else's permission.  It doesn't matter that you signed an agreement to not sell the lot.  A contract restricting the sale or transfer of property is void under Civil Code § 711.  See Wharton v. Mollinet (1951) 103 Cal.App.2d 710, 713, 229 P.2d 861; Reagh v. Kelley (1970) 10 Cal.App.3d 1082, 1099, 89 Cal.Rptr. 425 [citing Wharton].  If you are on title along with your children, then you can file a partition action that requests the court to sell the property and have the proceeds divided among the co-owners.  Here is an article that I wrote about partition actions: http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc/partition-actions... Read More

When there is a disagreement between co-owners or partners about how to work together or a dispute about co-ownership, a partition action asks the court to divide the property between the co-owners or partners.  One co-owner can purchase the property from the other co-owner in the partition action.... Read More

The seller is required to disclose to prospective buyers any problem with the property which prospective buyers cannot discover by conducting a reasonably thorough inspection of the property and the neighborhood, and about which the seller has actual knowledge. From what you describe, I don't see how you could discover the problem until it rained, and I don't see how the seller could not have known about it, if they had lived there through a couple of winters. One of your possible remedies for fraud is rescission. That's where you promptly and without delay, send the seller a written notice (not an email or phone call), describing the fraud, declaring that you are rescinding the contract, and demanding that they agree to take back the home and pay you back what you paid for it. If they refuse, then you check your contract. Many California home purchase contracts require that you go to mediation before arbitration or a lawsuit. Many such contracts also require arbitration instead of a court lawsuit. Both are cheaper and faster than a lawsuit, but there are some rights you lose, like strict adherence to the rules of evidence, a jury trial, and the right to appeal a material mistake by the judge. Your other remedy is to demand and arbitrate or sue for damages. The measure of your damages is NOT the difference between what you paid and what you sell it for. The correct amount of your damages is the difference between what you paid and what a reasonable buyer who knew about the problem would have paid if that buyer had known about the problem. This might be a lot, but it might not be much. You paid a price similar to what others had paid for similar homes in the area, and those buyers probably were told about the problem and still paid about the same price you did. Expert testimony would be required regarding these values. What are your neighbors doing about the smell? Are they just living with it? Maybe they have found a solution. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack      ... Read More

I don't know, but I doubt it. To know for sure would require a little research. The real problem is how to get rid of the rule and prevent its enforcement. You have two choices. The faster, cheaper and surer way is to get together with other homeowners who agree with yout that this rule is insulting, inappropriate and un-American, and campaign to elect a new Board of Directors. If the next election is too far off, you and your neighbors can initiate a recall election to remove one or more directors and replace them with peoople who agree with you. If only 3 out of 5 directors supported this rule, then you'll only need to recall those 3. If you talk to the directors about your concerns, maybe only 1-2. The other is litigation. Check your CC&Rs. You are probably required to request mediation first. That's a good idea. It involves an independent and neutral third party working to negotiate a compromise between the two sides. The mediator does not make any decision, but it will be a neutral voice who might help persuade the Board that it has gone too far. If mediation doesn't work, check whether your CC&Rs require arbitration or judicial reference. Both are faster and cheaper than a lawsuit. Before suing, make sure your attorney is really certain you will win. Your CC&Rs probably provide that the loser reimburses the winner for its attorney fees. A homeowner who lost such a lawsuit recently won an appeal which reduced the amount the homeowner must reimburse to the HOA from over $1.2 million to only a little over $740,000. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack... Read More

Your listing agreement is actually with the broker, not the agent.  So when the agent leaves that brokerage and goes to another brokerage, then that agent no longer represents you. If you want to continue to work with your agent, then you will need to have the first broker cancel the listing agreement before signing a new listing agreement with the second broker.  Do not have two active listing agreement because then you will owe two commissions. You are not obligated to renew your listing agreement if you decide not to sell the home.  Even if you don't want to sell during the listing agreement, you can tell your agent to take the property off the market.... Read More

It appears that there is a utility easment and the house was built over the utility easement.  To solve that issue, an agreement was made with the utility company.  It also seems that the seller has properly disclosed that fact to you.  It's your choice whether or not to buy the house, knowing about that fact.... Read More

There are transactions in which the seller is not obligatged to provide a transfer disclosure statement.  However, the seller is always obligated to disclose any material fact that may affect the value or desireablility of the property.  Being sold "as is" does not affect the seller's obligation to disclose, but may affect whether or not the buyer was damaged.... Read More