Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

French House Essay Contest

Hi, I'm not sure if real estate law is the correct field or not for this question.

Basically, I live in Contra Costa County, in California and I own a house in

Southern France. I have created a contest where the ''prize'' is this house in

France. There have been other contests like this and apparently it is fully

legal as long as the contest is one of skill rather than chance. Ours is an

essay writing contest so is indeed one of skill.

We have seen other sites on the web and feel that ours is probably fully legal,

but before going ahead, we just want to confirm. The web address of the

contest is: http://www.french-house-contest.com

Thank you so much!!


Asked on 4/23/04, 4:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: French House Essay Contest

I think the correct heading would be criminal law. Your question really asks whether your idea falls under the definition of an illegal lottery. This is covered by Penal Code sections 319 through 329. See also Penal Code 532c re offering real estate at a drawing. It would be a good idea to ask a criminal defense specialist in Contra Costa County to spend an hour reviewing the decisions and precedents under PC 319 (and the other sections) to give you a better idea whether your concept is or is not a disguised lottery scheme.

I have not looked at the Web site. LawGuru questions are supposed to be asked anonymously and the site may identify you.

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Answered on 4/23/04, 5:06 pm


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