Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Real estate

As I read the question and supporting data you furnished, you are in Arizona but the property is in California. The previous answer comes from an attorney who is licensed in Arizona but apparently not in California. As a California lawyer, I would say that recording an affidavit of fact would be possible under California's recording statutes, but this is not the approach most California lawyers would take to handling this problem.

The first thing I would do is reply to the attorney who sent you this letter, empatically denying saying your brother could have your share, an asking for a copy of whatever you supposedly "wrote to your brother." If they don't have a copy, this is probably pure harrassment, or an attempt to trick you into verifying something that never happened.

The next things I would do:

(1) Run a title check on the property, by having someone look at the county recorder's records since 2000, to see whether anything has been recorded relating to the property, including deeds, mortgages, tax liens, or anything suspicious. This can be done on line in most counties; if not in your county, or you need help, call the recorder and ask for recommendations for by-the-hour title searchers.

(2) Do the same with the tax collector to make sure the property taxes are being kept current. Ordinarily, payment of the property taxes by a stranger to title would be an alarm bell that someone was attempting adverse possession, but adverse possession against a cotenant requires more (an ouster), so that's probably not a concern. However, if no one is paying the taxes, that's a concern as well. This can be done on line or by phone.

(3) Determine who is presently in possession, and how they came into possession. Maybe it's a co-owner relative, maybe the place is rented out. This affects you rights. You may need a private investigator to develop this information. If so, have the investigator determine whether the place looks well maintained or is becoming run down.

(4) If there is a loan secured by the property, determine who are the borrowers, how much is owed, and whether the payments are current.

(5) Finally, since you seem concerned about the security of your asset and mention a buy-out, you should be aware that you can produce what amounts to that by filing a special kind of lawsuit, a partition action, against your co-owners. This is a suit asking the court to enforce a co-owner's right to divide up the co-owned property. In the old days, this was done by subdividing the ranch, but in modern times partition is accomplished by court-supervised sale and division of the net proceeds according to percentage ownership after reimbursement of any excess costs paid by a co-owner.

Contact me for a free consultation if you wish; I handle these cases often.

Re: Real estate

Even if you did tell your brother he could have your share, it is not in writing and is not binding. If you are worried about some monkey business, you can record an affidavit of fact as to your status to the property in the real property records in the county in which the house is located.