Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Payback for fixing up house with no contract ( please help)

If your stepsister received the house "in her name," i.e., as her property, she is in charge here, and you are probably only a tenant or guest unless you can come up with a valid legal theory for (1) reimbursement of some of your expenditures for improvement of the property, or (2) claiming some kind of ownership interest.

While your case is not hopeless, it is greatly hindered by the lack of any written agreements. Normally, it takes a written agreement to transfer any ownership interest in real estate, and normally improvements made by a tenant become the landlord's property after the lease expires.

I realize that you don't have a formal lease, but your occupancy of the house has to fall into one of several legal categories: either you are a co-owner, or you are a tenant, or you are a guest, or you are a trespasser. It's pretty clear that your possession was initially permissive, so I doubt that you can be called a trespesser. Your claim to be a co-owner, if any, is weak, but not hopeless. More likely, you are a guest, but possibly a tenant under an implied contract of lease.

In either case (guest or tenant), the owner can probably "kick you out," as you put it. If you were a tenant, that requires a fairly formal procedure including notice and lawful eviction, probably including an unlawful detainer suit against you.

If you were a guest, no formalities are required; when asked to leave, you must, or you are a trespasser.

So, both of your questions (reimbursement and whether court action is necessary to evict you) are close calls, and depend upon more details not included in your question; also, to some extent, the outcome might depend upon whom the judge or jury believes.

I would like to go into greater detail, but the length of a LawGuru answer, and time and available information constraints make it impractical to give you more detail. Please e-mail me and maybe I can explain further.

Re: Payback for fixing up house with no contract ( please help)

Obviously, a written agreement is your best form of evidentiary proof in this matter, however, detrimental reliance on an oral agreement is also valid in a court of law. If you would like prompt, affordable legal assistance in this matter, contact us directly today for a free phone consultation.