Posted by Bob on June 01, 2004 at 02:52:23:
If the plan is to sell and your lawyer is confident of success, tell him you’ll pay him out of escrow when you sell.
Fogery of Quit Claim Deed - Posted by Cheryl Manuel
Posted by Cheryl Manuel on May 25, 2004 at 19:20:23:
We own a home in Phoenix AZ. We signed a contract accepting funds up=front from buyer and they agreed to pay us so much per month in addition to the payment. This was our personal home on a VA loan originated in October 1988. Loan is non-assumable. We informed buyer of this. We allowed them a generous amount of time to get their their finances in order to refinance the loan. The buyers have forged a Quit Claim Deed with the buyers receiving the deed. They have missed several payments, causing us credit problems. Now they are claiming they own the home and we own the debt. We don’t have much money, but we need to get this resolved. Can anyone tell me does this man own our house? Any suggestions?
Re: Fogery of Quit Claim Deed-some suggestions - Posted by david
Posted by david on May 29, 2004 at 10:29:29:
Here are a few things to try:
- Contact the State Bar of Arizona (you can check out their web site) and ask for a real estate litigator who practices in Phoenix. You want a real estate litigator, not a transactional specialist.
- Contact the Maricopa County bar association (assuming there is one) and ask for a referral to a real estate litigator.
- Try to find a lawyer who will take the case on a contingency. This means the lawyer will take his fee out of any recovery he gets for you. There are straight contingency fee agreements, part contingency fees and part up front cash, etc.
- The most important thing is to find a lawyer who you feel comfortable with and who has litigation experience in real estate. Ask each lawyer how long they have been practicing, how much of their practice involves real estate litigation matters, whether the lawyer has ever had a case similar to yours and what the fee and cost agreement will be. Make sure you are given a written fee agreement that you can understand. If not ask questions so that you know precisely what fees you will be paying, how much costs are likely, etc.
Do not wait. Start looking for a lawyer today as time is on the side of the people who took your property.
Re: Fogery of Quit Claim Deed - Posted by Tom-FL
Posted by Tom-FL on May 26, 2004 at 22:34:19:
In addition to what John said, you may want to run it by the Attorney General of your state. Last I heard, forging a notorized document is called perjury, and perjury is called felony. Your mileage may vary.
Tom
(not legal eagle)
Re: Forgery - Posted by John Merchant
Posted by John Merchant on May 26, 2004 at 14:14:49:
Have you seen the deed? Do you know for sure one was executed? Was it recorded? If so you can get a copy of it and that’ll answer several questions.
If it was executed and recorded, you’re probably going to have to have a lawyer file suit to “Try Title” and enter a judgment that you still own the property.
At any rate, you need to immediately have your lawyer involved to straighten this mess out.
The buyer’s QCD couldn’t have been recorded without having been notarized, and I’d see if I could locate the Notary, maybe through the state licensing agency that licenses NPs…he/she is supposed to keep a record log of docs notarized, so see if you can maybe get a copy of that.
Re: Forgery - Posted by Cheryl Manuel
Posted by Cheryl Manuel on May 27, 2004 at 09:01:42:
Yes. Once he informed me of what he had done, I was able to go on line and see the document. The Notary that he used is the same person he used to notorize the contract. She is a long time freind and he pays her to help with his transactions. His words not mine. I have spoken with an attorney there in Phoenix, I sent to him a copy of all the documents we have on the property. He agreed that the signatures are obviously not done by the same people who signed the original agreement. He also said that the first step is for us to try to reason with him. We tried it didn’t work. Next, he would send a notice to the buyers informing them that he had a specified period to prove his claim on the property; the next step if he still failed to cooperate is to take him to court. Yes we want and need to get our property on a clear Title, etc. but unfortunately, just like everything else-we do not have the fees that he asked for. He wants $5,000.00 up front to bill his hours from and depending upon how complicated this get it could cost us more. I checked the comps in the area and we could probably get at least $160,00 for the house, maybe more. Our parents are either dead or living on a fixed income and cannot help. It is really tearing me up, because we only owe about $76,000.00 on the loan. So, you see my delima. Due to my illness, I had to quit working. Our funds are very limited, I cannot work at this time, so there is only one income. Any creative financial ideas anyone?
Re: Forgery - Posted by Jermaine
Posted by Jermaine on June 12, 2004 at 24:21:20:
Go to your state or county or city bar associations and ask for a “pro bono” lawyer, tat is free lawyer. Go to legal services lawyers. Go to leagl aid lawyers. File a complaint with the police. File a compliant with the attorney general. File a complaint with the district attorney. Go to the newspapers. Give this guy some pain. It shouldn’t be that easy tosteal someone’s house. Go big. Write to the governor, to the FBI . Escalate the situation. Let’s see wether he stands firm, or melts.