Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Verbal Agreement

You really don't give much in the way of useful facts, so I'll give you a very broad answer. If this doesn't help e-mail my office, or call, for additional information.

An oral agreement (i.e. verbal) is as valid a contract as a written one---just much harder to prove. Also, an oral contract is covered by a 2 year Statute of Limitations, written 4 year SOL.

Re: Verbal Agreement

Mr. Bennett is correct, but normally transfers of property interests must be in writing. You can, however, show detrimental reliance so as to prevent the other side from arguing their is no written contract. If from a certain date forward you paid all the costs on the home and the other side never said anything to you about your not being the owner, and especially if a title insurance company issued a title report showing you as the owner, you have a stong case.

However, you have not given us any of that information nor what the dispute is with the former owner, if there is a dispute.

Re: Verbal Agreement

Maybe. Oral agreements of most kinds are just as valid as written contracts, just more difficult to prove. The existence of written collateral material -- not the contract itself, but papers tending to show that the parties must have made some kind of bargain or contract -- is often helpful as proof of the contract and its provisions.

Contracts for the purchase or sale of real property, or for loans secured by real property, "must" be in writing and signed by the party to be charged with having made the contract. I put "musr" in quotes because there are several exceptions that MAYBE can be used to enforce an oral contract for real property. These have technical names such as "part performance," "promissory estoppel" or "equitable estoppel" and "detrimental reliance." The only way to evaluate possible enforcement of your oral contract is to go over all the facts with a lawyer who has some contracts experience.

In addition, if the payments include the down payment, you should know that in some cases when X's money is used but Y ends up with the house, X can recover ownership without a written agreement. Also, if X puts up 50% but gets nothing, or when X puts up 100% of the down payment but only gets 50%, and so on. It only works with down payments and is called a resulting trust. No writing is required.

Finally, at the time of sale, co-owners can usually get reimbursement for excess outlays on shared expenses, but this is because those deals don't affect ownership.