Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Arizona
Non performance on a written real estate transaction
I sold income property in 1989. No money was given. I allowed the buyers to take over the property with the promise that they would pay me when the market got better. Before I left Arizona for California in 1989, I was given a peice of paper by the buyer to sign in front of a notary. According the buyer, I was signing him a guarantee that I was selling him the property, and nobody else. He misrepresented the use of the word 'Warranty''. I discovered, in 1993, that I had actually signed off my property to him, in effect, giving him the property. He, in effect, had stolen my equity of $20,000.
It's over 10 years since I signed him the property. Question: can he now get away with the fraud? Please note that I started legal action on him two and a half years ago, with a paralegal. Now it appears I can't legally sue because of the statute of limitations. Nor can I take advantage of this fraud with my income tax showing a loss due to time constraints.
I don't want to throw away good money after bad, if the statute precludes me from getting my just due.
I do want some justice to be done.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Non performance on a written real estate transaction
Based solely on the facts you provided above, it appears that the statute of limitations has run. Although you sold the property in 1989, you did not discover the true nature of the paper you signed until 1993. The statute of limitations for fraud is 3 years; written contracts is 6 years; adverse possession is 10 years, unless a deed is involved, then its 5 years. You stated that a paralegal started legal action 2 1/2 years ago - depending on what was done, that may have saved your cause of action if a complaint was filed. You need to bring all of your documents regarding this, including the work done by the paralegal, to an attorney who specializes in real estate transactions for review immediately.
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