Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Michigan

Re: Quit Claim Deeds

This question should be a warning to all against attempting to protect real estate by giving an interest to someone else. Unless the person is your spouse (and, in certain circumstances, even if the person is your spouse), this will not protect your interest in the property, because a judgment creditor (someone who has a court judgment against you) still can reach your interest in the property, even though the interest you gave to the other person is left intact. The result may be that the judgment creditor and the person to whom you quit claimed the interest now will own your property.

A quit claim deed is effective to convey an interest in property, once it is executed, value has been given for it, and the quit claim deed has been delivered (given) to the person who gave the value.

If the quit claim deed has been recorded (that is, filed with the Register of Deeds for the county in which the property is located), then the roommate's interest in the property can only be removed with the consent of the roommate. The roommate could convey her interest to you by a quit claim deed, if no other title changes have occurred (that is, if she has not transferred her interest to another person and if she has not allowed any liens to be imposed on her interest in the property).

If you have not recorded the deed and have not given the deed to the roommate, then the roomate might not have received an interest in the property. Therefore, the quit claim deed would not be effective.

If the roommate did not give any value for the interest in the property, then you might be able to remove her interest by a lawsuit; however, the requirements for such a lawsuit are rather complex, and it is not possible to address them in this response.

Facts and circumstances other than those indicated in your inquiry will affect your legal rights and the legal rights of your roommate. You should consult an attorney in your area to discuss all facts which relate to your real estate, so that the attorney can consider those facts and provide legal advice. This response does not constitute legal advice and should not be considered to be legal advice. No attorney/client relationship is created as result of this response.

Stephen Scapelliti

Couzens, Lansky, Fealk, Ellis, Roeder & Lazar, P.C.

39395 W. Twelve Mile Road, Suite 200