Real Estate Legal Questions

Hello, Generally, when husband and wife take title together and a spouse passes away, the surviving spouse becomes sole owner. A death certificate and continuous marriage affidavit wll have to be recorded as part of the sale. A real estate attorney can review the prior deed to ensure this is the case. My office is happy to do that for you. You should have a real estate attorney guide you through all aspects of the sale to make sure contract terms are favorable and no issues arise later. Feel free to call for a free consultation. Good luck!  -Kristie... Read More

Hello, The best way to ensure the contract terms are favorable enough to sign the contract is to contact a real estate attorney in your state to review it. A real estate attorney can also help guide you through the entire process from contract to closing, prepare your documents, ensure title is clear, etc. ... Read More

Yes, but it is complicated and you may have to pay her money to do it.  The most effective route is a partition action.  In such an action, the court orders the property to be sold at a public auction and the proceeds divided between the owners.  If you hold title as joint tenants with full rights of survivorship, the sale is complicated because of the survivorship feature, but it is more likely you hold title as tenants in common or joint tenants.  At the auction sale, the bidding usually comes down to the competing owners; the one bidding more gets the property but has to pay the other their share of the winning bid price.  (In your case, if you win the bidding at $100,000, you will have to pay her $50,000.) Of course, existing mortgages have to be paid before the owners get any money.  You would need to have new financing lined up ahead of time.  As I mentioned, it is complicated.  Within a partition action, it is common to ask the court for an accounting if one party has been carrying a larger burden and another getting a larger benefit, as may be your case; in that case, the court may order that one party can recover a larger share of the net proceeds. Fortunately, becuase the sale at public auction usually does not generate a price anywhere near what could be obtained by a typical sale through a listing, the competing parties will often agree to put the property up for sale and split the net proceeds.  Obviously the lack of routine maintenance would impair the sale price to some extent.  If the net proceeds justify it, you may still want the court to order an accounting before splitting the net proceeds.... Read More

Likely the suggested language is sufficient, but I cannot be certain without seeing the Master Deed (including the Condominium Subdivision Plan which is an exhibit to it) and records of the Condominium Association relating to any assignment/reassignment of the parking spaces.  If the Master Deed and Condominium Subdivision Plan provide that Parking Space A is a limited common element of Unit 1, the deed does not need to expressly call out the parking space; it is appurtenant to the unit.  Often master deeds allow reassignment of parking spaces by agreement of the affected unit and at least some filing with the association or, perhaps, an amendment to the master deed recorded with the county.  If there has been such a reassignment in this case, it would be good to have the deed say Unit 1 with all rights in general and limited common elements including Parking Space X.... Read More

Your mother needs to set an appointment to come in and discuss her situation and how to proceed. There are legal avenues available, such as an action to quiet title that might be more appropriate based on your facts. Your question is familiar, I beleive that I answered this on another site. Your mother's situation involves major factual and procedural issues. These are issues that we can discuss. If you are interested in pursuing the matter further, I offer an initial 1/4 hour consultation without charge, and a 1/2 hour consultation for $50. If you want to set an appointment for the initial consultation, feel free to telephone, or email, my office.
 Don't wait any longer, give a call and let's getting working to protect your mother's interests. 

David R. Hartwig

 801-486-1715
drhlaw@ix.netcom.com... Read More

Hi Leslye, Their daughter in law certainly does not specifically own half of the bedrooms, but I would need more information to be able to give a clear answer on whether she has the right to access the property. Does the daughter in law actually hold a portion of legal title to the house? Is there any sort of agreement between the owners of the house regarding who gets to live there? Thanks,Jon... Read More

Hi Harold, As I understand it, you are seeking to move your fence back to the property line, which actually sits in the middle of the allyway between you and your neighbors.  Have your neighbors taken any action? How long has your fence been in its current position? Will your neighbors still have access if you move the fence?Thanks,Jon... Read More

You may have claims here but they are very difficult to win.  Most home inspectors include limitations of liability in their contracts.  You also should determine the scope of their inspection duties.  They may have excluded inspections for mold from your contract. As for the prior owners, you would have to prove that the mold was there when they owned, that they knew about it and failed to disclose it.  Its an uphill battle and you'll have to pay for the attorneys fees and expert costs to bring the claim and those probably won't be recovered if you win.  ... Read More

the mortgage liens remain on the property, regardless of your chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Assuming that your bankruptcy did, in fact, discharge your personal obligation to those lenders, you could wak away and their recourse would be to foreclose on the property.  You can certainly try and sell to one of those buy any house outfits but make sure you are giving them a quit claim deed and not providing any warranty concerning the title to the property.  ... Read More

It sounds like you had a hearing in front of a Judge.  The first priority is to decide whether to file an appeal from the decision if you disagree with it.  You have 30 days to file the appeal.  That's the first step.  You may have a claim agains the tenant for early termination of the lease.  ... Read More