Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Property

Since you gifted the property to her you are co-owners. If you can not agree on an amount to buy her out, you would have to bring a partition action. However this is costly in terms of Legal fees and Master Costs. At such a proceeding you may be entitled to credits for amount of the joint expenses you paid. You should seek legal advice to help you in this matter.

Re: Property

You asked about entitlement to property.

I both agree and disagree with my colleague. When you added her name to the mortgage it generally signified a common interest in the whole. It does not signify an entitlement to a distribution.

You don't seem to have a problem with the situation so you need not do anything. If she isn't happy with the situation she can seek to file for partition. Thus she will incur the fees and expenses associated with the matter.

Further, even if she is entitled to anything, she would only be entitled to the incremental increased value between the time she was named on the deed and the time when she vacated the property (and possibly until the date of whatever settlement you come to).

Moreover, she would not be entitled to any participation in those contributions you made. She hasn't a chance in hell of getting 50% of the market value. At a maximum she can claim 50% of the profits if the house is sold for more than it was purchased, less those contributions and improvements you have made, including routine upkeep. I would also deduct the money she took from the checking account unless she can demonstrate that she only took what she contributed.

Hire an attorney and ignore her. Should she contact you again. The attorney can look to causes for her to be removed from the deed. This may even incur a small payoff to her. You should though seek some sort of means to remove her name from the title.

This matter is not a significant problem and when she explains it to a lawyer she will not find an intelligent one that will give her the response she seeks. This matter is an annoyance at best.

For example: Bought house for 100K, she stole 2K, you made 40K worth of payments and 2K worth of improvements. House is now worth 110K. She may be entitled to 50% of 6K.

Regards,

Roger