Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

I am in a hard situation with the property I lived in for the last 20 years. It is a joint tenancy and we refinanced( Mother, Sister and I ) in Oct 2003. My sister moved out willingly in 2002 but stopped making the mortgage payment one year thereafter (Aug 2003). I paid all three shares (Mom, Sister and myself) till today (Jan 2017). I did take all tax benefits as well. I moreover paid the principal down throughout the last 13/14 years by approximately 50K. At refinance time the house was worth ~410K - and today it is ~560K. My sister refused to refinance me to a lower rate because along with my brother in law, they wanted an outrageous figures of over 200K .... currently about 122K is owed on the property from an original 235K at the time of refinance in 2003. I want to stay in the property and take my sister name off but I tried several times and many offers but no avail. The rent value is high in our area and has been approx. averaging $2600 and my mortgage is $1800. My mom passed away in 12/2008 and I am trying to be fair with my sister but they claim that what their 1/2 of mortgage is a wash against fair rental value . I have not rented the property but stayed in it with my brother and Mom and then in 2012 my brother moved out and my wife moved in and we currently have a toddler. I have put all my investment in this house and I don't want to start paying for a house for 30 years after I have been paying in this house for 14 years on my own with all expenses and improvements. I am stuck in a high 6% because my sister will not let me even refinance to a lower rate without taking her name off since 2011. I need to see if I am in a favorable situation and have a cost/benefit assessment to see if filing something in court is worth it and also what that would be approximately. I am willing to start right away as I see I am losing a lot here and being treated unfairly. I need to evaluate the best route and know what is my legal and fair sister share now. Of course I am open for other suggestions. HELP


Asked on 1/31/17, 11:13 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

You REALLY need to talk to a lawyer directly. It sounds like you did not probate your mom's estate, which should have been done in 2009. A refi should have occurred then. It also sounds like you will need to file a partition action, but for that to work you need to be prepared to buy your sister out of her share, otherwise the house would be sold by court order and the proceeds divided. The good news is that your sister is wrong that she is entitled to credit for the rental value. Co-owners are all entitled to occupy co-owned property rent-free. So by paying all the mortgage and taxes you actually have increased your share of ownership by some amount. Any improvements you have made that increased the value may also be credited to your side of the ledger. Only consultation with a lawyer will give you any real idea of where you stand, though.

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Answered on 2/01/17, 9:38 am


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