Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
community property
if you are married and purchase property in california and the loan and title are in one spouses name because of credit issues on the other. is proper for the on-title spouse to record the deed as ''unmarried person'' or is that illegal or fraud
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: community property
Well, fraud required a victim, and if everyone is wise to what's going on, there is probably no fraud. If the lender is unaware that the borrower is married, there is a possibility this is a fraud on the lender.
You should also know that California has two peal statutes, Penal Code sections 115 and 115.5, that make recording a false instrument or making a false statement to a notary are felonies. The purpose of these laws is (among other things) to help assure that the state's public records are accurate and reliable.
I do not know if many DAs would be sufficiently concerned about the married-vs.-unmarried "mistake" in a deed to prosecute the grantee or persons acting on the grantee's behalf, but conviction of a felony is a life-altering event, so why risk it?
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