Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
I filed a lawsuit around January 2000 to sue someone for borrowing my money but not returning it. Following that in March of 2000, that person filed a quitclaim deed of their 2 properties to his brother. A court order was sentenced after wards and I filed a general lean but all his property and assets have been removed by the quitclaim deeds. Is all of this legal?
3 Answers from Attorneys
There is such a thing as a lawsuit to "set aside a fraudulent transfer." If you can show that the property was transferred to avoid this lawsuit, and you have the resources to pursue another lawsuit, you could possibly collect.
A transfer to avoid creditors is illegal. This is clearly a fraudulent transfer and can be set aside. However, it was done 10 years ago - why have you waited so long? I am concerned that the statute of limitations and your laches may work against you in this case.
Why not pay an attorney for a few hours research to see if you still have a valid case for the fraudulent transfers?
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Passage of time is your worst enemy here. The statute of limitations for an action on a fraudulent transfer is either four or seven years (see Civil Code section 3439.09) and a judgment, unless renewed, is good for ten years. There isn't enough information here to say conclusively that it's too late, but I wonder why you have let this go so long without taking action to enforce your rights.
By the way, the California version of the Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act is Civil Code sections 3439 to 3439.12.