Yes, Eugene, I’ve seen this actually happen locally THREE times, where a property was deeded to two or three children BEFORE the death of the owner (bad idea for lots of reasons, one being that its disposition is not clearly spelled out). Usually these properties are unencumbered and one sibling (the one usually LEAST successful in life, lol) moves in. They might start out paying rent to another sibling, but soon quit and are never evicted because they don’t have a rental agreement/lease. No one can borrow off the property without the signatures of the rest, and usually all are feuding, so the property remains unencumbered.
One of the above siblings is currently involved in a partition action with her brother, who won’t give her access to the property or allow her to retrieve her belongings she stored in the garage over 10 years ago, and has since changed the locks. She gave him WRITTEN PERMISSION to occupy it for TWO YEARS only (back in 2000) IF he paid the taxes, negating any “adverse possession” claim. Not only did he overstay his agreed upon occupancy, he has managed to run down to the county treasurer every year since 2002 and pay the entire year’s tax bill in advance just as they are generated (late Sept), in this case a whopping $363 yr. His sister, who worked full time, did not have the time to do this. He is also letting the property go to waste (not maintaining it) ever since he occupied it. Part of the written agreement with his sister was that he maintain it.
The majority of the equity in this property is now currently being eaten up in attorneys fees, because the brother won’t budge. He’s claiming it was “supposed” to have been his sole property and the dad deeded it to her by “mistake.” Of course, the dad, now deceased, can’t speak for himself.
The properties that fall prey to this problem are usually free and clear with Prop 13 tax protection whereby paying the entire yearly tax bill as quickly as possible doesn’t really burden the party who is attempting to steal the property from their (most often) siblings.
yogamom, has there been a trust deed filed on your property AFTER the quitclaim deed you just ordered? Or any grant deeds conveying the property to a third party??
