Actual Writing Question- Real Estate Law

[sweetnpetite]

Prepare to be shocked. I'm about to ask a question pertaining to a story that I plan to write. I dont' know if anybody is going to be able to help me, but as we have people with all kinds of backgrounds and professions here, it couldn't hurt to ask.

I would appreciate it if those who can't be helpful could refrain from being annoyingly cute. I love you all, but we can chat and make jokes on another thread.

Ok- here's the thing. the female character has inherited a house out of state from her Aunt, but the Aunt has also set up a livein caretaker until such a time as she comes to claim it. Not the female character wants to sell the house, but the caretaker has been living there for quite some time, and he's not willing to just leave now that she's suddenly shown up. What laws (if any) would/could prevent her from putting the house on sale as long as he's still there, and prevent her from forcing him to leave?


I'm open to any information pertaining to any state, but the house is in California, if anyone has any specific info.

Thanks, and sorry if I was a little rude just there

 

[destinie21]

If the woman owns the house there's no real law that can allow the caretaker to stay however you may want to look into squatters rights as an angle.

 

[sweetnpetite]

That's a good idea. In Michigan, if you have someone living with you for a certain amount of time, your required to give them a notice to quite and allow them 30 days to vacate- or so I've heard anyway. The whole point being that they were invited by you and you can't just throw them out in the streat without warning. IN my story, the caretaker is appointed by the will, so perhaps their is also something that could be stipulated from that angle to throw kinks in the heroin's plans. So who knows about Wills?

 

[wishfulthinking]

Many husbands or wives leave their estate to their spouse for the remainder of their life or for as long as they wish (in Oz called a life interest or similar), and on their death or moving out it passes to their children in equal shares. Sometimes the estate reverts to the kids if the spouse wants to move eg. into a retirement home, if that is the person's (in this case the aunt's) intention. Or some other legal mumbo jumbo. But twist it around and see what you come up with.

Perhaps this cute guy with a long willy has been given a 'life interest' in the property by the will, and provides that should he move out of the property, the estate and all that it entails reverts to the aunt's beneficiary, her. So if this female makes it impossible for him to live there, maybe sparks fly...

 

[Boxlicker101]

The aunt would probably have had some kind of contract with the caretaker and it would call for him to move on if a new person should take legal ownership. She would certainly not have made a committment to allow him to stay there permanently but there would most likely have been some kind of transition period. That would give him the right to stay there for a given period after he has been given notice to leave. As an employee, he would not have any kind of squatter's rights.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

SNP,

My advice it to keep everything as vague and general as possible and count on the will in this situation. Odds are, there's no way for the caretaker to prevent the sale.

However, the will could give him certain rights, maybe in lieu of payment or full payment for services rendered, such as:

The caretake can postpone the sale for some time. If the protag needs or wants to unload the place quickly, that should create the situation you need for your story.

Let the protag be able to sell at any time, but lose a big slug of the proceeds to the caretaker if it happens w/o his agreement.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[sweetnpetite]

A little background

The woman loves her aunt, but frankly, hates California. She's always avoided going there to visit her. She also hates what she feels California stands for, and that part of herself that is in her aunt. The woman is a romance writer, but strives to remain practical and conservative in her r/l. and repress her more emotional and funloving tendancies, due to the influence of her stern no-nonscense mother. The girls aunt leaves her the home, a cozy little cottege by the beach. However, the aunt realizes that it may be a good long time before the woman brings herself to settle the afair. she also has made the aquaintance of a young man that she would love for her neice to meet, and employs him first as a handyman, and aranges for him to be the caretaker of the home. The woman wants her neice to have the home, but the young man feels a certain loyaly to the aunt- why should this woman, who never came to visit her aunt in all the time he knew her, come in and sell the one thing that she left her. He also feels an attachent to the house and the older woman who was a friend to him. He really wants to stop the sale of the house, and get the woman to appreciate the house, rather than trying to dump it, and seemingly aviod having to deal with the loss of her aunt. He is willing to be a jerk to her, becuase he feels that she is ungreatful. But he's attracted to her too and he knows that once she's taken care of the sale, she' s gone. So he also doesnt' want to ailienate her, just stall her. She's willing to sell the house at pretty much any cost just to get it off her hands, so money is not her motivator.

I dont' know if any of that helps any, but there you go.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

SNP,

After reading your synopsis, and in my most unlearned opinion, unless you dream up some sort of will, the guy doesn't have a chance. The property is hers and he's history. Once she has a clear title to the land, there's no way he can stay. The only way he might stop the sale is to either bring her right to inherit the house into question (and then you get into the question of his right to bring suit) or bring some sort of public suit against the sale (historical preservation, environment, etc).

However, a lawsuit would be a very expensive long-shot and even if he wins, the types I've mentioned wouldn't give him any legal rights or say concerning the property. If you're just looking for a logical device to explain the niece and the caretaker getting together, any type of involved legal action might distract readers from the main story.

That's why I believe a will with some sort of provision similar to those I mentioned before, granting him some legal status, would be the least complicated way to explain why the niece can't obtain a clear title and sell the house.

One other possibility. Unless it's important to already have the Aunt off the premises (ie dead) she could guilt-trip the girl into coming out to stay with her during the last days/months of some terminal illness. That would force the niece and the caretaker together which I presume is the goal.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[Edward Teach]

SnP,

Real estate law varies from state to state. I would suggest you contact either the California Association of Realtors or a Realtor in CA and ask them about the law. I think you will find someone happy to help at no charge.

Good luck,

Ed

Ps. You can always make up your own "law." There will be one or two feedbacks telling you how stupid you are but most will not know any better or couldn't care less.

edit to add the ps

 

[Alex De Kok]

SnP,

Have the aunt's will stipulate that to inherit the property, the niece must live in it for six months, after which she may do what she likes with it. She doesn't live in it for a while, she doesn't get it.

After that, it's up to you.

Alex

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Make it a big enough estate so that there's a caretaker's cottage on it. The aunt leaves the cottage to the caretaker, and the house to the girl. It would have to be a sizable estate anyhow, wouldn't it, to employ a full-time handyman? I mean, you don't need a live-in guy for a cozy little cottage.

Either that or have him live in a separate suite of rooms in the house, like a Mother-in-law suite or whatever that's called: those little apartments they used to carve out of bigger houses for servants etc.

He can still be living there while she has the house on the market, and he can still be trying to talk her out of selling it. She'd probably have pangs of conscious about turning this guy out before the house is sold, seeing he was so close to her aunt and all that. Let her own feelings do what the law probably doesn't allow for.

You know, this scenario reminds me a little of the terrible movie "The Screaming Skull" which has been on Mystery Science Theater 3000 lately in which a windower brings his new wealthy bride back to his wife's former estate and tries to convince her that she's going crazy and that the feeble-minded gardener Mickey is trying to kill her. Throughout the film, no one suggests that they give Mickey his walking papers, even when skulls start turning up everywhere you look. I suggest you research this fine film, which was apparently shot in two or three days at some mansion which was obviously up for sale. You can tell because the house doesn't have a stick of furniture in it except for a folding cot.

---dr.M.

 

[gauchecritic]

Don't know about specific legal aspects but it seems to me that the sale of the property is hindered in no way other than possibly having to be sold with a sitting tenant/caretaker, which would probably seriously reduce any bids.

It's the property that's being sold along with a possible letting contract. Then it's up to the buyers to sort out.

Gauche

 

[Weird Harold]

Have the aunt's will stipulate that to inherit the property, the niece must live in it for six months, after which she may do what she likes with it. She doesn't live in it for a while, she doesn't get it.

I agree that the solution to your problem is in the conitions of the Will. Even if the provisions inthe Will are not legal, they can give the caretaker grounds for seeking an injunction against her sale of the property.

Another possibility is for the caretaker to inherit a part interest in the property or have a long-term lease on the servant's quarters.

Since your character is not a lawyer or real estate agent, almost any preposterous clause in a lease or the will should suffice. As long as SHE believes it's binding, it will affect her actions in the way you want them to go.

I think a requirement in the Will to make her live there for a specified period is needed to make her visit the property instead of hiring an agent over the phone to sell it sight unseen.

PS: A Will that sets her some specific tasks to complete would fit well with your basic premise of a maiden aunt interfering with the heroine's love life from the grave.

Something like:

To inherit the house, you must live in it for six months. Further, during those six months, you must host one dinner party with no fewer than 30 guests, spend no less than eight hours visiting each of the six neighbors and have those six neighbors visit you at the house, Have dinner with a date at six specific restaurants, etc.

Make the provisions of the Will as difficult for her as possible to meet without changing her lifestyle for six months.

 

[Boxlicker101]

There are laws in Ca. regarding construction on oceanside properties. It might be possible to have this property covered by those laws such as, no construction. That is, a buyer would have to keep the building as is, and could not tear it down to build something new. The caretaker might be a member of the Sierra Club or some such group and fighting to prevent the sale on that basis.

 

[Wills]

Hi SnP

In most European countries it is possible to assign use of the property without losing right of ownership. In the UK this is sometimes used to avoid 'death duties' the property being transferred to a child whilst the right to live their is retained by the parents, or more commonly the surviving parent, for their lifetime.

This law also applies in Portugal where the term applied is 'uso-fruto' which, as the word suggests, stems from ancient law concerned with the right of a tenant to harvest land.

I am not familiar with Californian Law but I would be suprised if similar laws did not apply. They give a fiscal advantage that law makers are often in a position to exploit and therefore reluctant to change. Simply naming the occupier in a will as entitled to use the house in his lifetime would be sufficient to create an unbreakable right. Your solution would be to buy him out, or arrange for his unfortunate demise.

Will's.

 

[bearlee]

Make it a big enough estate so that there's a caretaker's cottage on it. The aunt leaves the cottage to the caretaker, and the house to the girl. It would have to be a sizable estate anyhow, wouldn't it, to employ a full-time handyman? I mean, you don't need a live-in guy for a cozy little cottage.

Either that or have him live in a separate suite of rooms in the house, like a Mother-in-law suite or whatever that's called: those little apartments they used to carve out of bigger houses for servants etc.

He can still be living there while she has the house on the market, and he can still be trying to talk her out of selling it. She'd probably have pangs of conscious about turning this guy out before the house is sold, seeing he was so close to her aunt and all that. Let her own feelings do what the law probably doesn't allow for.

You know, this scenario reminds me a little of the terrible movie "The Screaming Skull" which has been on Mystery Science Theater 3000 lately in which a windower brings his new wealthy bride back to his wife's former estate and tries to convince her that she's going crazy and that the feeble-minded gardener Mickey is trying to kill her. Throughout the film, no one suggests that they give Mickey his walking papers, even when skulls start turning up everywhere you look. I suggest you research this fine film, which was apparently shot in two or three days at some mansion which was obviously up for sale. You can tell because the house doesn't have a stick of furniture in it except for a folding cot.

---dr.M.

LMAO-that one was just on again two or three weeks ago-I the guy kept Mickey around just to smack him around.

No laws in Ohio I'm aware of-the caretaker has no legal rights unless created by contract that inures to the benefit of heirs, assigns, etc. But, I agree with the general consensus-put it in the Will-maybe something called a life estate to the caretaker, remainder to the woman. Or if the caretaker cared for the aunt, or put a lot of money in the property, he could sue the estate for care of the aunt, ie. providing her necessaries but good luck on that, unjust enrichment for the work he did to the home and tie the case up for a period of time or you could watch Mystery Science Theater 3000. A Last Will & Testament giving the caretaker rights that the neice can contest because she was incompetent would be an easy way to do it.

 

[CharleyH]

Care taker haas no rights - it may take her a few months to get him evicted - but she can - through many avenues. The most legal form is to first have her fill out proper papers to present him, then, at least here in Canada - she gives him 2 months to leave, gives back the retainer if any was paid - plus 8 percent I believe. She may give him a spicier deal, depending on how fast she wants him to evict. All she needs to legally say is I'm moving in. That's her grounds for eviction - all very legal.

After that - the eviction process could take months . . . but eventually a court order comes, and locks the caretaker out, all his belongings lost - tough shit for him. Was he paying rent? Wasn't he? What was the arrangement? Contract or not - depends - change of ownership is cause enough to have an original contract between another party voided.

But that's the extent of this kind of law for me - hope it gives ideas anyhow.

 

[ffreak]

OK - check this with your local county sheriff. But when I used to own rental property in California, if the tenant failed to pay and I wanted to evict them and they claimed to be sick, it added a period of time to when I could get them out - once it cost me an additional 3 months before I could get the sheriff to evict.

This is just another angle and I don't know if it fits in with your story.

 

[snooper]

... What laws (if any) would/could prevent her from putting the house on sale as long as he's still there, and prevent her from forcing him to leave? ... the house is in California, if anyone has any specific info. ...

Well, you were eventually lucky; ffreak actually answered the question on reply no 17!

 

[sweetnpetite]

Care taker haas no rights - it may take her a few months to get him evicted - but she can - through many avenues....

After that - the eviction process could take months . . . .

First, thanks to everybody so far who's given advice or suggestions.

A situation like you described is perfectly fine. He doesn't have to *win* the house, he just needs to have the ability to stall her. What he actually wants is for her to realize that she wants to keep the house, rather than sell it away as if her aunt has meant nothing to her. What she wants is to take care of everything quickly and go back home (but we can't have that now, can we?) She doesn't want to stay in California, and she certainly doesn't want to begin to experience any feeling of attachment toward the house, that will make this prossess, "messy and emotional" The falling in love part is actually orchastrated by the aunt- a matchmaker, even past the end So I guess crazy will stipulations (which perhaps we find out one at a time, rather than all at once) would make sense.

My original title (when I first thought this story line up, a really long time ago) was "A Match Made in Heaven" if that gives you any idea. Since then, I think I've already seen a published novel with that title, so I'm considering, "Her First Novel" as a possible working title. (ever ambiguous aint' I?)

I have to agree with the point that I could probably just make something up, especially after seeing ads for "Fifty First Dates" in which Drew Barrymore's character supposedly experiences "loss of short term memory" makes her forget everything at the begining of every day. That's not even a correct definition of short term memory, but appartently no one cared when they made the movie (nor did they seem to do any reserch on the topic)

On the other hand, I would like to write something I could be proud of

PS. This is a romance story in the sence of Harlequin Romance (sneer if you must), not in the sence of 'romantic porn' I had forgotten to mention that in the begining

Thanks all. (Feel free to keep suggestions coming if you'd like, it's all good for the inspiratioin)

 

[Weird Harold]

So I guess crazy will stipulations (which perhaps we find out one at a time, rather than all at once) would make sense.

A question about stipulations revealed one at a time:

How would you insure that they were revealed to her? Or would she know about all of the conditions from the beginning and you're only going to reveal them to the reader piece-meal?

Are you thinking of a "scavenger hunt" type of Will; where she has to complete tasks in sequence to get the the instructions for the next task?

Or a scenario where the Aunt anticpates certain actions that will trigger a call from the Executor to reveal a new clause in the will?

Whichever type of Will youset p, I'd recommend you actually write out the Will before you write the story so you have a firm idea about what you have to put her through.

 

[bearlee]

WH-this fascinates the heck out of me now. Interesting stuff and questions. I suppose you do one of those old-fashioned reading of the Will things they sometimes have in movies or have a lost but recently discovered codicil to the Will. Writing the Will out wouldn't be difficult. Can go online and fine one to copy and paste and rewrite whatever you need if you go that route.

 

[sweetnpetite]

A question about stipulations revealed one at a time:

How would you insure that they were revealed to her? Or would she know about all of the conditions from the beginning and you're only going to reveal them to the reader piece-meal?

.

I'm thinking that the woman would be makeing certain assumptions. First she assumes that the house is hers so she can do what she wants with it. (She would not have been at a will reading, she lives in a distant state) When she runs against a problem, she contacts her aunts attorney. But she doesnt ask him to explain the terms, she asks about each situation as it arises, and then assumes that's all there is to it.

The attorney doen'st go out of the way to set her straight- he/she is either allied with the aunt, or just doesnt' care either way. She has that old attidude of I didn't tell you cuz you didn't ask.

Might be a little soap opera-ish, but I think it will work.

It's also a character flaw, she doens't stop to get the whole story, she jumps to conclusions and talks more than she listens. That's apparent in other aspects of the story as well. She's a kinda high strung, tunnel vision, get on board or get out of the way personality. She needs to learn to loosen up, and not take herself so seriously.