Texas land ownership question
"Rusty Wallace" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]
I didn't answer your last question because I don't know the Texas rules, but
I've decided to add my uninformed opinion anyway.
If the defendant arrives before you have a default judgment, he might defend
the lawsuit, but might not bother if he feels he has no defense. He might
simply pay the amount your mother sued for. If that happens, the suit will
be dismissed.
If the defendant arrives after the land interest is in foreclosure, he has
whatever redemptions rights are available under Texas law. I don't know
what those rights are. Worst case for your mother would be the defendant
having the right to clear the lien by payment of the judgment amount. Best
case is no right of redemption.
The following are general rules, which may or may not be the Texas rules.
Generally, in both of the above cases, your mother will not be entitled to
recover litigation expenses. But she would be entitled to increase the
judgment amount to add interest and collection expenses, like fees charged
by the sheriff.
This answer must not be relied on as legal
advice for the reasons posted here:
http://www.msnusers.com/1LawChat/Doc...Disclaimer.doc
McGyver
"Rusty Wallace" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]
"McGyver" <[email protected]> wrote: (snip)
Simple? I suppose... If you were doing this for someone, about how much of your time do you think it would take and how much would it cost, assuming the other party never put in an appearance? If we tried to do it without an attorney, how much time and expense would be entailed - and how many pitfalls for the legally naive? I know some of this is state dependent - I'm just curious to get a very general estimate. This sounds like a procedure that would take months to a couple of years depending on how long the various waiting periods are. If he turned up right before the foreclosure wanting to preserve his ownership interest, would he be liable for paying the expenses incurred in getting to that point?
Your mother should sue the co-owner for contribution of his share of theproperty taxes. She would attempt personal service of process even thoughshe knows it will be futile. When service of process proves to beimpossible by normal means, and with the help of the affidavit of theprocess server, she would obtain the court's permission to serve processbypublication. After publication, and assuming the defendant defaults, yourmother would File for entry of default and obtain the default judgment.Somehow, in accordance with Texas lien procedures with which I am notfamiliar, she would attach a lien to the defendant's share of theproperty.Then she would foreclose on the lien. After passage of the amount of timeallowed for the owner to object to the foreclosure and/or redeem theproperty by payment of the lien amount, the sheriff would sell, atauction,the defendant's share of the property. Your mother almost surely wouldbethe only bidder. She would bid one dollar and become the sole owner oftheland, having a "Sheriff's Deed" which is as good as or better than awarranty deed. Simple.
I've decided to add my uninformed opinion anyway.
If the defendant arrives before you have a default judgment, he might defend
the lawsuit, but might not bother if he feels he has no defense. He might
simply pay the amount your mother sued for. If that happens, the suit will
be dismissed.
If the defendant arrives after the land interest is in foreclosure, he has
whatever redemptions rights are available under Texas law. I don't know
what those rights are. Worst case for your mother would be the defendant
having the right to clear the lien by payment of the judgment amount. Best
case is no right of redemption.
The following are general rules, which may or may not be the Texas rules.
Generally, in both of the above cases, your mother will not be entitled to
recover litigation expenses. But she would be entitled to increase the
judgment amount to add interest and collection expenses, like fees charged
by the sheriff.
This answer must not be relied on as legal
advice for the reasons posted here:
http://www.msnusers.com/1LawChat/Doc...Disclaimer.doc
McGyver
Comment