Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York
summary judgement
an action cliaming improper deed transfer from ( the pastor which was my mother)and the church which my father started. MY father brought a property in 1975 which he rented .after some time he used part of the property for church services .after a few years the property was put in my mother's name .after my father's death in 1983 she put the property in the church's name to try and receive a reduction in taxes. failing to receive the reduction after 5 years she and the chruch partition to have the property put back in her name. An order granting the right to put the property back in her name was made. today the proprty is owned by me .I bought it from sibilings in 2000 after my mother's death. the chruch remained after i took over , paid rent for five yrs then filed this lawsuit against me . It has come out that the tranfer back to my mother was made without the attroney general being notifed. is a summary judgement the best way to go in this matter?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: summary judgement
I don't understand your use of "summary judgment" in this context. Summary judgment is a process within a lawsuit that results in a case or a defense being "thrown out of court."
If you mean "summary proceeding," i.e., an eviction, that might be the way to go, though it might not be the appropriate remedy. You might instead bring a proceeding for ejectment rather than eviction. Another remedy might be to bring a proceeding under Article 15 of the Real Property Actions & Proceedings Law to bar other claims against the real estate.
Which of these three proceedings to follow (or, perhaps, another approach, including, possibly, declaratory judgment) cannot be discussed meaningfully on a bulletin board. You need an attorney. You should have gotten legal advice back when the title to the property was being adjusted in the first place. Yes, that would have cost money, probably around $2500. This is a classic instance of the old saw that you can pay me now or you can pay me later. It's going to be more expensive to straighten this out now than it would have been at the opportune moment.
This would not be the first time that transferring title to the house over to a church has resulted in the homeowner, his spouse and children ending up in the street. Not terribly Christian, but there are a number of aphorisms that come to mind. The simple fact is that you need legal advice if you want to have any chance of retaining/regaining the property.
This post is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is a comment on the legal question posed by the poster and should not be relied upon unless and until an attorney-client relationship is entered into. Doing so would require signing an engagement letter and depositing a retainer to secure payment of legal fees.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
