Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida

In March of 2009 a "friend" offered to put me on the deed to her home if I would give up my place and come there and we pull together to maybe have some sort of comfort as elderly people. I did move down there, she did put my name on the deed and from day one things were a mess, nothing was done the way she had indicated it would be done.

I wanted to keep my place and sell it or rent it out but my "friend's" daughter moved some woman and her six kids into my place with the understanding that she was going to buy it but when the electric came out of my name a month and a half later, they abandoned the place and this resulted in losing the home entirely. I had never missed a rent payment (the home was a mobile home with a land lease) but the home was stolen out from under me by the mobile home management.

To add to the story, her daughter and my son were together until "friend", her daughter and granddaughter falsely accused my son, had him sent to jail and within 24 hours was trying to force me to take my name off of the deed by stating that it would all go away if I just signed the deed back over to her and moved out. The end result was that I have become homeless due to fear for my life and now the "friend" has left for another state and the daughter, who is not on the deed, is refusing to let us come in and get our possessions. Additionally, when my grandson went there to pick up some things for me yesterday, she threw a lit cigarette at him and tried to hit him with the car. All this to say, the deed says "to have and to hold forever", do they have the right to force me to take my name off of the deed and do I have to continue to live there in danger to protect myself from being removed from the deed?


Asked on 7/21/10, 4:41 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alterraon Phillips APLaw, LLC

In short, if your name is on the deed you are part owner and have just as much right as your "friend" to be on the property. If the daughter's name is not on the property, you have more rights to the property than the daughter. You do not have to stay there, but if they try and sale the property, they will need your permission to do so unless you decided to sign over your rights by quick claim deeding the poperty back to your "friend". I highly recommend you contact the sheriff to go with you next time you try to obtain your possessions from the premises.

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Answered on 7/21/10, 7:08 pm


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