Force Sale Of Property -- Help!!!
If someone could give me some insight into this problem I'm having. RE lawyers with advice for someone who desperately needs it!
My mother, brother and I own a triplex. My mother occupies one of the units as her residence. My mother decided to sell the triplex a year ago because she didn't feel she could keep up with the mortgage once my brother moved out to buy a home with his wife.
I was busy with my own properties and business so I didn' t really get involved in what was happening. To make a long story short, I figured a way for her to structure the finances so she could keep the house and have a cash flow for retirement (she's almost 70 with no social security 
) . We decided to keep the house so she could retire in peace. However, my brother had already signed the agreement to sell and the shady agent my mother was working with told my mom that she HAD to give him the signed docs even though she didn't want to sell. My mother being naive gave them to him. For whatever reasons the buyers really want the property and have sued us in the Superior Court to try to force of to sell the property to them.
Their grounds is that though my mother and I did not sign the agreement...my brother signed for us as a representative and thus we acted as one. We're currently in court now. Our lawyer is going back and forth on this. I've talked to different real estate agents, friends, investors, lawyers, accountants and I get a different story each time. Can someone please help! My mother is older now and I just can't have her stressing over another move and a long trial And insight would be much much appreciated. Thank youl
your lawyer should have the answers...
but if there are 3 of you on the title I would imagine all 3 are needed to sign it off...
and its possible that mom could show cause of munipilation by the r.e. agent through financial gain on his behalf...
there are so many ways this could go...it depends on your state and if your lawyer knows what he is doing...
Do your own research....I will give you a hint
In some states the contract for sale HAS to be in a certain SIZE type point ie letter size
Check your state for this you may have to read thru alot of state code go to the state code site.
In CA there is a law concerning this because OLD FOLKS cannot read the fine print.
From your brief description I cannot believe you cannot compel these folks from bacming away. Their side is pretty weak.
Is there something u are not telling us here.
SKI
Thank you for your replies. In answer to the last post's question of if there is anything I ommitted...that's pretty much the broad picture. I could go in to details about the nitty gritty like dates, etc etc but that would be tedious. Our lawyer has tried to negotiate with the buyers and we are even willing to do a TIC with them. We're not trying to change out minds so that we can get a higher bid. I just want my mom to retire in peace and not have to deal with all this legal craziness. I own several REI but this one is more personal since it's been our family house and it's the property that my mom would like to retire in. My other RE friends and associates tell me that we should just sell the property and buy another for my mother but seeing my mom cry over having to leave what she has called home for over 10 years has made this very personal for me . I feel I have to at least give it a good fight. Both of you did make really good points. I have to stop relying solely on my lawyer and accountant's counsel and do some of my own research. God know's being a female REI for 5 years I've had to learn the hard way...I definitely have a lot to learn...
> Their grounds is that though my mother and I did not sign the agreement...my brother signed for us as a representative and thus we acted as one.
Is there a power of attorney allowing your brother to sign on all of your behalves? If not, you have a pretty strong rebuttal to this argument...
You may also consider your right to demand a jury trial. Consider the affects on a jury when they learn of a 70 year old woman strong-armed out of her retirement home...