Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: real estate

Any civil litigation attorneyis the right kid of attorney.

Re: real estate

If you are looking for criminal penalties for the forgery or other aspects, you need to start with making a police or sheriff's report and hope that the district attorney will respond. Some jurisdictions have special desks or offices at plice headquarters that specialize in taking reports of so-called white collar crime like forgery and embezzlement. Recording fraudulent documents is also a crime.

However, it's more likely you are asking about civil remedies, or possibly both.

A starting point is that people like those who did these things are sometimes connected with organized crime, and you may need an attorney who is somewhat on the fearless side. Don't expect anyone to take your case on contingency, and probably not pro bono either.

I would say an attorney with real estate experience or a real property law specialization would be a good criterion, because most of the problems you mention come up under that specialization, including taking the corrective actions to remove clouds on title, have records expunged and contracts affecting real property enforced. Trial skills may turn out to be important, but maybe negotiating and settlement skills will be more useful; the shady types usually don't want to appear in front of a jury, with the possibility of reporters and press coverage, etc.

Your Zip code suggests that venue for this action will be in Southern California; that's probably gonna rule me out, but maybe I could give you a couple of recommendations if you can't find someone on your own. If you contact me, please say where the property is, or in what county the false documents were recorded.