Can my DD sue for the land?

Originally Posted by Oldcountryboy

My daughter was in the process of buying a couple of acres of land with a old rotten house on it from her mom's step sister. She went through the process of applying for a loan and finally was approved and issued a check. My daughter notified her mom's step sister that she has the money and she's ready to make the transaction. The step sister said to give her a couple of days to find the abstract as she's misplaced it somewhere. Then today she tells my daughter that she's sold the property to someone else who offered her more money.

My daughter is deeply hurt as she wanted it real bad since it use to be her Grandpa's place. Plus the fact that she is now holding a big loan in her checking account and is not sure if the bank will take it back. Afraid she might have to make payment's on something she doesn't own.

Is there anyway my daughter could sue her step aunt for the property after going through all this trouble? She was really looking forward in raising a big garden and a few pigs on the place.

Originally Posted by DryHeat

There might be some details missing here, too. Is the house "rotten" as in, part of roof caved in, no water or electricity, windows all busted, termites working away, places where you step and your foot goes through the floor? Or something that would be liveable for many more years while constructing a new place on the property, worth $25K with $10K materials and repair labor? Is the basic location particularly good so somebody would really want to build a new place there? Did the daughter low-ball the value and play on aunt's sympathy with the offer $2500 or $5000 saying it wasn't worth anything but sentiment and garden space but the new buyer agree to $20,000 due to upside that's not mentioned? If the new price was double or triple the relative's offer, my sympathies might be more with the aunt. If the aunt went shopping it around to make another $500, and without letting the niece make a counter-offer, well, it's time to do some serious shunning for any family gatherings and so on.

Or had the aunt been trying to sell without success for some time, eagerly opening the discussion with the niece, and clearly agreeing to the price while knowing the market value pretty well? Agreed though, lawsuits are expensive and there'd need to be real damages. If there's actual loss on the bank loan payback, that amount could be asked for in small claims court perhaps along with some modest additional for time, travel, stress. Dunno if small claims will consider punitive damages. My experience has been that *good* lawyers try to keep clients out of court. Do you want major family drama and a lot more stress and wasted time? If so, go for it in small claims.

Originally Posted by Common Tator

I'm a little confused about how your daughter acquired a loan without escrow. Was it an unsecured loan? Usually, there is a deed of trust, and the property secures the loan. You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_d...real_estate%29

Did your daughter have anything in writing? Had she made any kind of down payment or earnest money agreement?

Originally Posted by DryHeat

There might be some details missing here, too. Is the house "rotten" as in, part of roof caved in, no water or electricity, windows all busted, termites working away, places where you step and your foot goes through the floor? Or something that would be liveable for many more years while constructing a new place on the property, worth $25K with $10K materials and repair labor? Is the basic location particularly good so somebody would really want to build a new place there? Did the daughter low-ball the value and play on aunt's sympathy with the offer $2500 or $5000 saying it wasn't worth anything but sentiment and garden space but the new buyer agree to $20,000 due to upside that's not mentioned? If the new price was double or triple the relative's offer, my sympathies might be more with the aunt. If the aunt went shopping it around to make another $500, and without letting the niece make a counter-offer, well, it's time to do some serious shunning for any family gatherings and so on.

Or had the aunt been trying to sell without success for some time, eagerly opening the discussion with the niece, and clearly agreeing to the price while knowing the market value pretty well? Agreed though, lawsuits are expensive and there'd need to be real damages. If there's actual loss on the bank loan payback, that amount could be asked for in small claims court perhaps along with some modest additional for time, travel, stress. Dunno if small claims will consider punitive damages. My experience has been that *good* lawyers try to keep clients out of court. Do you want major family drama and a lot more stress and wasted time? If so, go for it in small claims.

Originally Posted by GoldenCityMuse

Probably not worth the aggravation and all the family drama that will no doubt crop up.

Originally Posted by Oldcountryboy

The house is litteraly rotten. A tree crashed through the back part of it. The rest of the roof leaks very bad. The floor is rotting out. There's clothes and junk all over the place that's getting moldy and the place is infested with rats, snakes, spiders, etc. Looters have stripped the copper wire out of the walls and the meter pack off the pole. The land has junk everywhere and hasn't been mowed in about 10 years or more.