Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Real estate transaction

Back in 2006 i purchased a home together with my father in-law, mother in-law, and my wife. When we purchased the property i was the only one that could qualify for the loan as the other parties had bad credits, so the loan was under my name only but i had escrow execute a grant deed transfering the title back to all 4 parties. Escrow said they see that grant deed that was executed but it just was not recorded according to their image system. Due to the fact that this is not execute show all 4 parties are in title i'm now being accused of trying to take the house for my self. My father in law is now telling me he is going to sue me for the money he put down or i have to pay him back what he put down. Can i sue the escrow company for not doing their job as if they did i would not be in this situation. I'm currently stuck in between as 1 if they leave and i get their money back i would not be able to pay the monthly payment aor 2. I sell the house and get his portion we would lose about 100k due to the current market conditions. Can i go after the escrow/title company as if they completed the transaction the way they we requested i would not be in this situation of either selling the home or buying my father in law out?


Asked on 11/19/07, 12:14 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Tina Nia The Law Offices of Tina A. Nia, APLC

Re: Real estate transaction

Your description of the problem in the title is not clear. If the escrow company cannot see the recording due to their 'image system', you need to search the property records and see what the it says. It might very well name all 4 of you as owners. Don't look at your property tax bill for that. The property tax bill only lists the first one or two owners of record. If the deed does not show all 4 of you on title, you can get that fixed now. Seems to me your in-laws are using that to get out of their end of the bargain. You might also want to look into getting some sort of a written agreement with your in-laws to protect you if they decide to bail out later since you're the sole borrower. Your stakes are high, so use a lawyer and do this right. If you need help with any of the above, call my office tomorrow.

Read more
Answered on 11/21/07, 1:18 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Real Estate and Real Property questions and answers in California