Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Good Morning Tim.

I had posted a question awhile back and appreciated your straight forward advice and knowledge. It was regarding a lien on the property I received in my divorce settlement.

This goes far beyond that.

My divorce has now gone on for over 6 years over 4 pieces of property. We went to court in Mar 09 and used a private judge at the advice of my attorney. The judge took over 120 to render his statement of decision. When he did, the petitioner filed objections and we were back in court in Oct 09 on those issues and attorney fees. The judge did not give a decision on that until Mid June 2010. I was awarded a home in Fort Brag that we had and owed petitioner $23k in equalization money.

During the divorce, the petitioner was appointed, at her request, as overseer of the properties.

During the time the judge took to make the latter decision, the house I was awarded had been rented to pot growers and they destroyed the home. There was mold and mildew everywhere caused by raw sewage seeping from the toilet into 3 rooms and from having the house sealed up to mask odor and keep the humidity high.

There was $31K in damage, the escrow acct had been removed and taxes had not been paid and the house was up for tax sale by the county. I did not have the funds to hire the work done and I had experience in the trades so did the work myself. It took 10 weeks and materials were approx $8K.

The bank paid the taxes, over $6,500 and increased my monthly payment to cover the overage. The mortgage got behind due to the fact that it was either I pay the mortgage or try to fix the house so it could be rented.

The original mortgage payment was $1200/ mo including taxes and ins. It is now approx $1600/mo and is way more than it could be rented for. The house also had been our vacation home and was turnkey.

All furniture, incl my private belongings there, had been sold for pennies and/ or given away. The mortgage was also behind 1 1/2 months. It has become impossible to meet that obligation with all the things that have had to be paid.

So, I was to receive a house that had a value of $270K, furnished and current in monthly payments.

Instead, I received a house that, due to the condition, had a value of $150, would have been condemned by the health dept, could not be rented or sold, 4 months of lost rent while trying to fix it and bring it up to code.

My attorney told me to take pictures and save receipts. Now, the petitioner wants her money and my attorney is just trying to adjust the amount of equalization I owe. That would be fine if I could afford to do that. It has been a year and the house is in foreclosure, no sale date yet, and my attorney wont return calls or messages.

Also, during the divorce, petitioner would not give me tax and expense info as required by atros. When I asked my attorney about this, he was nonchalant and said not to worry because I would be divorced in a few months, That was 5 years ago. I have received some info, but not all and I am in deep trouble with taxes.

The other side is screaming about the status of the house and accepts no responsibility for the current state it is in. I am broke and don't know what to do.

I have been assured throughout this that everything would be fine and not to worry.

If I had not hired an attorney and just given it all away at first 6 years ago, I would be $140K ahead now but my attorney said that there was no way he would let me do that and we would get a fair settlement.

I'm not upset at the outcome and what I was awarded...I am upset about the fact that I was not awarded what the settlement said I was to get. I have struggled to keep up with the mortgage and rent the house for a year and I cant do it.

Tim, I have no idea of what I should do and feel that I have been mis guided and left high and dry.

This is in Yolo County.

Thanks....Earl

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