Real Estate Laws Problems?

hi~ about 10 years ago i bought a house with my borther in CA, and at that time the house is under me and my brother's name, but about a year ago my bro told me to sign a contract so he can refinanc the house, cus he's always beening nice to me so i didn't actually read the things, but about a month ago one of my friend who is a real estate agent told me that my name is no longer under the house, he is now saying i never gave any money to him to buy the house, and around this month he is selling the house, is there any ways i could get my money back?

What money?

Even if you can prove you gave your brother money, IF your name has been removed from the new deed on refinance and unless the 'agreement' you signed gives your an ownership interest in the home, you have nothing.

CONTRARY TO THE OTHER POST:

Neither the other poster nor I have read this 'agreement' you signed therefore, without such knowledge there can be no claim of fraud on any level that is not irresponsible.

If you feel the need, then take this 'agreement' to a local real estate attorney for review.

Be forewarned however, if you interfer with the sale and/or closing of the new home without legal grounds, your brother will have a good cause of action against YOU for interference with a business relationship.

So tread very carefully and before acting on such advice, have all documents and facts reviewed by a local Real Estate attorney.

From your explanation of the events, it seems you signed a quit claim deed which effectively removes your name from the home (you gifted your portion to your brother) and if you are deemed a competent adult of legal capacity, then there is no fraud.

The court cannot and will not void a contract simple because you did not read it.

You do have a problem. You need to attack the deed to your brother as a 'fraud in the factum.'

There are two kinds of transactional fraud: fraud in the inducement and fraud in the factum. Fraud in the inducement would be where your brother said, 'sign this deed and after I refi the house, I'll put your name back on it.' Your claim is that you would not have signed without his promise. This case would lose.

Fraud in the factum results because he had you sign a document, a deed, while saying it was a contract to enable him to refi the house.

Very hard case, but potentially winnable. Speak to an attorney, you need to sue your brother for this fraud. This is not a case of "not reading the contract." It's a case where a person you used to love and trust lied to you and misled you and stole from you. Very different from what the Brand X poster described, but then, I actually went to law school and have 30 years' experience counseling clients and suing bad guys.

I am sorry that your brother turns out to be a rotter. You will need to file a notice of pendency BEFORE the house closes escrow...and that will put the kibosh on the closing.

Do it right away, and be prepared to move out, 'cos your brother sounds like a potentially dangerous grifter.

The poster below me (he was above me, but you should be able to tell whom I'm referring to) is a person who appears to be impersonating an attorney. He has enough knowledge to get things right once in a while, but this (as is usually the case) is an area where actually graduating from law school would teach one how to respond to this problem. That he got this so very wrong emphasizes that he's not an attorney. Nor has he done much real estate title underwriting, or he would know that the fraudulent conveyance risk is one of the most common causes of loss in the industry.

Seriously, what do you have to lose by filing a lis pendens? You've already lost your brother, that's evident (and sad, you have my sympathy).