Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New Jersey
My Name is Charles D. What can I do with a Litton Mortgage Service to remove their name from my father's property title? I contacted Litton Mortgage in July 2007, after my father died to get the title put in my name. They told me they had no record of a loan or lean on the address/ Block/Lot number. They refered me to their lawer. I called their lawer and they told me they found nothing on the property. I said, Great send a letter and remove Litton from the property. They could not do that! and gave me no reason. Here I am July 2010 with no direction to go with this. Please HELP!
3 Answers from Attorneys
It is likely that once an attorney gets involved, he/she will be able to reach the right people and get this resolved. Absent that, you will need to file what is called a "Quiet Title" action and get a Court Order. Retention of an attorney would likely be required.
Keep in mind that this advice is given based on the little bit of information that you have provided in your question. My advice may change based on other information. Further, no one can rely on advice from an attorney who has not been retained. You cannot rely on this advice because we have not personally met and you have not retained me as an attorney. If you have not already done so, you should immediately meet with a real estate attorney for a full consultation before you take any further steps. You may feel free to call me at 856-546-8010 to discuss this matter in more detail. If you do so, mention Law Guru and your first one hour of time will be free. Good luck! Rob Gleaner
You need legal assistance. The mortgage company has nothing to do with putting title in your name. Did your father have a Will when he died? If so, the Will would say who inherited his property. If no Will, then a spouse would inherit and if no spouse then children (unless he was married with children from a prior marriage but I won't get into that detail right now). Once you determine who inherited the property, then the estate would simply deed the property to the beneficiaries. If no one has done anything to settle the estate, get legal help. Once the proper beneficiaries are given the deed, they can then work on getting the mortgage cleared if it has been paid off. Again, you should get an attorney to help you. Feel free to call me if you would like assistance.
Note: Due to the limitations of the LawGuru Forums, the response to questions posted does not constitute legal advice or legal representation of the person posting a question. The information provided is general. The poster should obtain specific legal advice from an attorney, and should not rely upon the response as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.
There are two issues here. First, it is necessary to know who should eventually have title to the property and who is the personal representative of your father's estate. I will assume that this is you in both cases. Once you have the letters from the County Surrogate giving you the authority to act for the estate, you or your lawyer should present a quitclaim deed and a certificate to cancel the "mortgage" to the mortgagee. Having done that, it is very possible that you will not find anyone there who feels that they have the authority to sign them. If that happens, you will have to sue to get clear title. Fortunately, you will also have a parallel claim for slander of title that my be able to offset your attorney fees. /p/ My firm handles matters of this type. If I can be of further help to you, call or email. /p/ See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm
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