Texas Real Estate Legal Questions

Actually, if the fence is on your side of the property line and you are not legally or contractually obligated to keep the fence, then I believe you can take it down. Further, if trees are falling on your fence, which is totally on your property, then I would think that you can either cut them back or something. I believe there is also an obligation of the tree owner to maintain their trees so that they do not damage your property. ... Read More

You do not say whether you purchased the home or leased the home. It sounds like a lease, though. If it is a lease, then the uncle may quite possibly be allowed to sell the home subject to the lease. If you do not have a lease agreement, then it is possible you are only on a month-to-month lease, which only requires 30-day notice for cancellation. If you have purchased the home, then a review of your purchase documents will be required. Best of luck to you.... Read More

Many lawyers will charge a full hour no matter how much time you think the document review may take. Also, most good attorneys will want to talk to you about the circumstances surrounding the document. However, you may find a new attorney who would review and analyze the document for a low fee.... Read More

I have handled cases of this type on the past and have one ongoing at this time. You may have several ways to approach this problem.  If the inspector did a negligent job in ithe inspection you can sue on that negligence for the damages that have resulted from him failing to find the problem(s).  If you hired thim to do the job and he did it poorly you probably have a claim under the Texas decptive Trade Practices--Consumer Protection Act.  Under the negligence theroy you cannot recover attorney's fees.  Unter the DTPA you can recover attorney's fees.  Both causes of action have a two year statute of limitations to bring suit. You may alos bring the suit undaer a contract theory.  Here too you can recover attorney's fees.  The statute of limitations is four years.   Suits of this type usually require the services of an expert witness in the area of home inspections.  The expert fees can run  three to five thousand dollars, but are also recoverable in court.   It is also possible that the seller of the property may be liable if you can establish that he knew about termite problems and failed to disclose them to you.  Respdeintial sales in Texas reqire a Seller's Disclosure of Porperty Condition form.  Often Sellers fail to disclose the bad parts of the history of the house out of fear that the sale will be stopped.  Any recovery from the Seller could be more difficult to prove.   I hope this helps.   Russel L. Robinson... Read More

I have some questions for you. How long ago did you stop making the payments for the membership? Have you been harrassed by the collections agency assigned to this debt? Because you agreed to the membership terms, you either had to pay a cancellation fee to actually get out of the agreement. I'm not entirely sure of this without looking at the agreement itself. Generally, creditors and collections agents are willing to settle your debt for a percentage of the full value of the debt. This does require repeated phone calls and you will likely need to pay some portion of the debt to get them to agree to remove the negative item from your credit report. ... Read More

What you describe sounds like a real estate investment scam. It is unclear what he was doing with your money. Did this individual have a business or was he acting as an individual?  Purchasing homes and then selling them for a profit? How long ago did you make this investment? Did he provide a timeline by which he'd return your initial investment? Did you sign a disclosure or acknowledgment statement after your sent your money?  This sounds like fraud, but without more information about the promises he made concerning your return on investment and the types of investors he targeted, it is difficult to say what your rights and options are.  To report this individual and/or his company to the Securities and Exchange Commission, please visit this website: http://www.sec.gov/complaint/select.shtml... Read More

Your husband needs to deed his interest in the home to you. Right now, you two are joint owners of the home. Texas is a community property state, so you both own an undivided 50% of the house. If your husband signs a special warranty deed grating his interest in the house to you, his name will be removed from the home. Because you are married, you would need to also have a post nuptial agreement created to make the home your sole and separate property. The deed needs to be recorded in the county land records where the home is located. ... Read More

Probably not. Unless your neighbor deeded her home to you or otherwise sold you the home during her life, you are not entitled to the home. If she left the home to you in a will, then you would be a beneficiary under the will and entitled to the house. Most people do not give their homes to their neighbors if they have living family members. ... Read More

It is unclear from you inquiry whether you have received a demand letter or a lawsuit, but if you've been sued you have twenty (20) days from when you were served with the lawsuit to respond to it. It sounds like you may need to consider some defenses to their claims. You admit you knew about the damage and tried to cover it, but if you provided any information about the termite damage to the buyer or the buyer's agent, then they were sufficiently warned about the home before you bought it. ... Read More

Yes, unless you specifically reserved the minerals in the deed to your brother, it is assumed that you quit claimed the entire fee simple estate (all of the ownership rights) of your property. There is specific reservation language that must be used in the deed that would to allow the seller to keep his interest in the oil, gas, and minerals. Without seeing the specific deed in question, it is difficult to say if you made this reservation or not, but it sounds like you didn't because the minerals were not mentioned at all. From what I can tell your brother is correct, and he got all of the interest in the property with the quit claim deed including the minerals.  ... Read More

The house you bought with your husband is technically community property because I assume you bought it during the marriage. Just because you moved out does not mean that you've forfeited your right to your interest in the property. His children would only be entitled to his share of the property (his 1/2 interest). Do you intend to divorce him? Are you wanting to sell the house? I think more information would be helpful here.   For more information, please contact Kimberly Moss, Esq. at 713-574-8626... Read More

I need more information here. If you were awarded the house in the divorce, did your ex spouse or his or her attorney give you any documents to execute to have his or her name removed from the house? If not, that may be all you need. Otherwise, you may need to have the property partitioned by the court in which you originally got divorced.  To discuss this further, please contact Kimberly D. Moss, Esq. at 713-574-8626... Read More

I would have thoguht bankruptcy would have discharged loan.  If not, you signed a promissory note or a promise to pay.  Therefore, the lender may still have the right to sue. There may be other defenses, such as the statute of limitations but failure to occupy is not a defense. David Pritchard   817 285 8017... Read More

You can get his name removed by a deed. A special warranty deed would be best. If there is a deed of trust or promissory note, his liabilty is not removed by him deeding property to you. This can be handled by mail if need be due to travel expense. I would be glad to help you on his matter David  David L. PritchardLaw Office of David L Pritchard1244 Southridge Court, Suite 102Hurst, Texas 76053(817) 285-8017(817) 285-0224 faxemail: david@dlplegal.com... Read More

In Texas, once a person receives a deed from the owner in exchange for money, that person becomes the new owner whether you file the deed in the courthouse records or not. If you have the deed from him to you, the house belongs to you. You said the title is registered to you in the courthouse, which hopefully means that you filed the deed of sale at the appropriate court house in your county. If you did, you are the true owner. There may be some way that the two of you can arrange a landlord-tenant arrangement since you let him live in the house, but it sounds like he would not go for that. I would need more information to be of help to you. For more information about what I do, please visit http://mosslawhouston.com/houstonoil-gas/... Read More

Based upon the facts you have provided you would have a right to seek a partition of the land.  Texas courts prefer to partition "in kind" which means dividing the property into tracts proportionate to ownership and awarding the tracts on that basis.  For example, if the 400 acres is of equal value a court would divide 200 acres to your aunt, 100 acres to you and 100 acres to your brother.  Of course, that assumes each acre is of the same value.  If property cannot be divided "in kind" the court will order the property sold and the proceeds divided.     Since I have not seen any of the documents in this matter it is possible that there is something that would interfere with the partition.  A qualified real estate attorney should review the pertinent documents and he could then assist you.   I hope this helps.   Russel L. Robinson... Read More

In order to get a definitive answer you will need to bring all of your paperwork to a real estate attorney to review.   However, it sounds like you have created what is known as an "executory contract for conveyance of real property."  If that is true you have numerous obligations under the law from the inception of the transaction forward, including, but not limited to, providing them with annual accountings of payments of interest and principal, how you have handled insurance proceeds and taxes.  the statute is very buyer friendly.  I suspect that you may own significant penalties under the law, and that they have the right to demand that you repay them everything they have paid you whether it is called rent or something else.  I think it is urgent that you confer with a real estate attorney in your area right away.   Russel L. Robinson... Read More

That question cannot be answered adequately.  There are far too many variables to each closing to estimate a time frame.  Issues such as special agreements between buyer and seller, real property defects, or costs can all impact and delay closing. You should contact a local real estate attorney to discuss your unique situation, as each closing is different. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies. ... Read More

There are far too many variables to answer your question.  You should consult a local bankruptcy attorney because each state has unique laws and a local attorney can determine how best to proceed.  Most bankruptcy attorneys offer a free initial consultations to determine how best to proceed. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.... Read More

You likely need a real estate attorney, or an attorney that practices probate matters. Please see: http://www.martindale.com/Results.aspx?ft=1&frm=freesearch&afs=real%20estate%2C%20probate%20texas This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.... Read More

You should contact a local real estate or consumer rights attorney to discuss your situation, and to determine what options you have available.  This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.... Read More

Texas law will, of course, determine what the proper answer is.  I do not know if a Texas attorney is available to give you a specific and better response than I can.   I would hope that Texas law would provide a specific remedy, such as giving them written notice that, if the materials are not picked up within a specified time that they will be deemed abandoned and can be disposed of by you.  Unless a Texas attorney provides a better response, I recommend that you do two things: 1.    Take some good photographs of the items left behind, and ask friends or neighbors to view the materials and make a memorandum of what the items are and their condition and (if possible) even their estimated value.  This is to protect you in the event you do dispose of the items at a future date (even in compliance with Texas law) and your former friends accuse you of disposing of  valuable assets without justification. 2.    Confer with a good real estate lawyer in your area.  The information that you can get from such a conference will be well worth a modest conference fee.... Read More

There probably is no way you can address your concern without making your neighbors angry.  It may be, also, that they have established a right (by virtue of a concept known as adverse possession) to continue using the easement area.  Ordinarily, if a utility company obtains an easement across someone's property, that easement is available for the utility company only.  The property owner still owns the property but the ownership is subject to the utility company's right to use the space and to maintain it for their own purposes.   Now, those rights (the owner's and the utility company's) can be undermined by a neighbor using the easement area -- under a claim of right to do so -- for a long period of time.  that period of time will vary from one state to the next.  If it can be shown, however, that the neighbor's use began by "permission" and not by some "claimed right to do so"), it is likely that even long years' use would not ripen into a legal right.  You should confer with a good real estate lawyer in your area.  Paying a modest conference fee would allow you to learn your specific rights under your state's laws, and what your chances of success might be if you attempt to try and stop it.    ... Read More