Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

OK, let's start with "my family refinanced the house." It is VERY difficult, and VERY improper, for anyone other than the legal owner to refinance a property. Your aunt appears on the scene of your story at this point. Have you done any investigation into how auntie got enough of a claim of ownership to pull this off? Did she inherit 50% ownership from your mother? 100%? It could be! (but probably not).

Answering your question accurately and usefully requires more information, and I believe all of it is relatively easily gathered. A lawyer would need to know:

1. How did your parents hold title? "Community property" is common, but so is joint tenancy, tenancy in common, or possibly as the separate property of one or the other.

2. When your mother died, did she have a will or trust? What did they provide re this property? (This may be the key question).

3. Was there a probate of your mother's estate?

4. Regarding the power of attorney you hold for your father, what does it allow you to do, and under what circumstances did you obtain it?

5. Is your father still legally competent?

6. What is your aunt's interest in the property in question?

7. The refinancing transaction needs to be looked at carefully. Who applied for the loan, and what ownership interest did they claim? Is the loan secured by a conventional deed of trust, and if so, who is the trustor? Is the loan secured by the entire property, or by some fractional interest? Who is making the payments?

8. Who is in current possession of the property -- your father?

Only full answers to these additional questions would allow a lawyer to assess whether there has been fraud, or mistake, or merely a misunderstanding here.

My hunch is that there may have been multiple mistakes by more than one party, but who knows until the initial research is done and the questions can be answered with certainty.

I agree with Mr. Whipple. You are going to want to gather documents, such as deeds, deeds of trust, the power of attorney, and wills and trusts, gather some factual information, and speak to a competent attorney.