Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: real estate

Your cousin will have to add your name to title through another deed. By the way, you might want to talk to a tax advisor, because these transfers can impact the property's tax assessments.

Re: real estate

Transferring real property, or an interest therein, to someone else is a permanent and irrevocable act, absent fraud or a similar illegality.

So, what did your cousin do upon becoming the new owner of your former interest in this property? Did he take out a loan against the property to get cash to buy out the brother? If so, your problem has become three times more difficult to unwind.

Did your cousin pay you fair value for the interest you transferred to him, or was it a gift? Maybe you thought you were just lending him the use of your interest in the property? Do you have a written contract with him or her? How about any unwritten understandings as to what was supposed to happen?

It would help in the analysis here to know what the original ownerships were. Perhaps the most likely guess is that the three of you inherited the property in equal shares, and you transferred your 1/3 to the cousin so he could become the sole owner upon buying out the brother, which would be pretty easy to do because a lender would see that he was becoming the sole owner as a result of the loan and purchase transaction, which probably took place in a single escrow.

So now, the cousin is the sole owner, the brother got some cash, and you've got nothing?

Even if your cousing wanted to return your share of the property to you, there is the problem that the property is encumbered with a loan, and he is probably not free to sell or give part of the collateral to anyone, including you, without the lender's approval, or paying off the loan.

I am of course assuming a lot of facts, but I'd say it looks as though you just gave your cousin a great big gift.

There is some hope, however. Maybe we can find an aspect of fraud in the transaction or the inducement to do the deal, or maybe the unintended result fits into some equitable notion like a resulting trust. I'd be willing to take a look at the details and advise you further if you contact me directly. No representation results, however, unless and until we agree in writing.