Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Abandonded property next door

You should first get a title report, which shows who the true owners of record are and how their title was held. It might be in a trust. Then you will have to contact the county assessor's office and inquire if any taxes are owed on the property. Next, you'll have to contact the State in which the property is located to determine if the property reverted to the state. Good Luck. --Phil (310) 806-9237

Re: Abandonded property next door

There is such a thing as adverse possession, which is the legal name for what "squatter's rights" is the slang term.

In California, someone in open possession for five years, without express or implied permission, and who pays all the property taxes assessed and due during that period, acquires title against the record owner.

Adverse possession usually must be followed up with a suit against "all persons claiming an interest" to remove the cloud on title caused by record title still being in the former owner's name, and to get the adverse possessor's name shown on the official record.

As the previous answer points out, your process of obtaining title by adverse possession should begin with some research. First, contact the county tax collector or treasurer to see whether the property taxes have been paid, and the assessor to see to whom the property is currently assessed. If someone has kept the taxes current, your plan is in trouble. On the other hand, if no one were paying the taxes, the parcel would probably have been sold at a sheriff's auction for delinquent taxes.

Your next stop would then be the recorder's office. While you may need a title search, you can perhaps do enough searching yourself to figure out whether adverse possession will be possible. Check the grantor-grantee indexes to see what transactions involving this property have taken place in the last four to five years. Start with the deceased owner's name and work forward. The clerks at the recorder's office will probably give you some assistance if they aren't too busy (ask them what's a good time).

Your Zip code suggests the property might be in or near Pinole. If so, I think the records would be at the courthouse in Martinez.