So as the title suggests, I am looking for legal advice or any insight into a situation that my family is currently facing. My father and mother use to be on the title of a duplex located in the LA area but about 29 years ago my dad decided to remove him and my mom from the title because he had heard from someone at a grocery store that he would lose the property to cover the cost of my mother's medical bills that would be incurred on them for the births of me and my twin brother. I know this story sounds crazy but it is true, but the worse part about the whole thing is that my father removed himself and my mother to put my uncle on the title (out of fear) and did so without letting anyone know. Years had passed after this happened, my father talked with my uncle to request that he be put back on the title but this did not go as planned. My uncle, to this day, has not wanted to put my dad back on the title because he claims that he doesn't want property taxes to go up. We've offered to pay the yearly difference as long as my dad gets his name back on the title but still won't go for it and we're getting to a point where we want t get lawyers involved but don't know if we have any grounds to stand on?

A few more details as to why we want to pursue a resolution. So we moved out of the duplex 30 years ago and my dad put tenants in our old unit and we've had the same tenants renting the unit ever since. My dad, brothers, and I have been maintaining both units throughout the years. So our blood, sweat, and tears have been poured into these 2 units for my whole lifetime. The property mortgage has been paid out by both my dad and uncle. My uncle and his family still live in one of the units and my dad is still receiving rental income from the other unit but it does not sit right with our side of the family to have invested so much into the duplex and my dad still not be on title. One of the main reasons that this is resurfacing for us is because I'm in the process of obtaining my contractor's license and my dad wants me to help him renovate his half of the duplex and possibly add another unit attached to the one he has been renting out. I told him I won't be able to help him with this project because he's not the owner of the property so there's no point in rehabbing and expanding at the end of the day my uncle can decide to sell the property and my dad will not receive any ROI from any of his past investments and including the investment he wants to make now. I have had several conversations with my uncle and cousins about this because I truly believe everyone can benefit from the opportunity of rehabbing both units and possibly even adding a unit to each to create a 4-plex so everyone can benefit from rental income and forced equity. I know it's a lot to take in but this is a delicate situation for my family and we just need a push in the right direction. Thank you all in advance for your time and help!

Los Angeles County, California

0 Votes