Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Liens and title

It's called a lawsuit to Quiet Title. Probably the lien would have to be paid.

Re: Liens and title

I have answered two other versions of substantially the same question in the last couple of hours, and in doing so I have done a fair amount of research. About the only thing I can add at this point is that merely filing a quiet title lawsuit is not enough; you need to have a sound theory on why the co-owner is no longer entitled to be a co-owner. Merely that she has disappeared is not nearly good enough.

I have thought of another possible route in addition to quieting title based on ouster and adverse possession. Your brother (with his attorney) might also consider suit for partition. Partition is the usual way to break up an unhappy co-ownership of property. Partition originally involved dividing the property physically, but nowadays it is much more common for the court to direct the co-owners to sell the property and split the proceeds. Since the court will also order reimbursement of a party's excess expenditures for joint costs such as principal, interest, property taxes, insurance, repairs and removal of liens, your brother could end up with all the net proceeds of sale. If he wanted to remain in ownership and possession after the partition, it might be possible to arrange a sale where he, or his nominee, would be the successful "buyer" in the partition sale. This approach would also require a careful review of the facts to see if it would work better than quieting title.

Re: Liens and title

I have answered two other versions of substantially the same question in the last couple of hours, and in doing so I have done a fair amount of research. About the only thing I can add at this point is that merely filing a quiet title lawsuit is not enough; you need to have a sound theory on why the co-owner is no longer entitled to be a co-owner. Merely that she has disappeared is not nearly good enough.

I have thought of another possible route in addition to quieting title based on ouster and adverse possession. Your brother (with his attorney) might also consider suit for partition. Partition is the usual way to break up an unhappy co-ownership of property. Partition originally involved dividing the property physically, but nowadays it is much more common for the court to direct the co-owners to sell the property and split the proceeds. Since the court will also order reimbursement of a party's excess expenditures for joint costs such as principal, interest, property taxes, insurance, repairs and removal of liens, your brother could end up with all the net proceeds of sale. If he wanted to remain in ownership and possession after the partition, it might be possible to arrange a sale where he, or his nominee, would be the successful "buyer" in the partition sale. This approach would also require a careful review of the facts to see if it would work better than quieting title.

Re: Liens and title

I have answered two other versions of substantially the same question in the last couple of hours, and in doing so I have done a fair amount of research. About the only thing I can add at this point is that merely filing a quiet title lawsuit is not enough; you need to have a sound theory on why the co-owner is no longer entitled to be a co-owner. Merely that she has disappeared is not nearly good enough.

I have thought of another possible route in addition to quieting title based on ouster and adverse possession. Your brother (with his attorney) might also consider suit for partition. Partition is the usual way to break up an unhappy co-ownership of property. Partition originally involved dividing the property physically, but nowadays it is much more common for the court to direct the co-owners to sell the property and split the proceeds. Since the court will also order reimbursement of a party's excess expenditures for joint costs such as principal, interest, property taxes, insurance, repairs and removal of liens, your brother could end up with all the net proceeds of sale. If he wanted to remain in ownership and possession after the partition, it might be possible to arrange a sale where he, or his nominee, would be the successful "buyer" in the partition sale. This approach would also require a careful review of the facts to see if it would work better than quieting title.

Re: Liens and title

Answered this already.