Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

To answer your question it is necessary to determine whose name is on the deed. You should get a title report on the property. If it is only in your brothers name, the issue will depend on what happens to your brothers property at death. You need an estate planning lawyer.

An institutional lender will almost always require that all parties on title sign the deed of trust, which forms the security for the loan, regardless of where the loan funds go, or what they are used for. The reason for this is that if only one owner signs the deed of trust, and there is a default, the lender can only foreclose on the signing owner's interest in the property, rather than the entire property.

The fact that the mortgage company transferred the loan does not mean you lose your interest in the property. Your interest would have been lost from a foreclosure, however. I do suggest that you at least have the matter reviewed by a competent real estate attorney.