Real Estate Information

AN INITIAL CAUTION

Playing with the title to real estate is not an undertaking for amateurs. If you make a mistake you could create a title defect that will render the title to the property unmarketable and be very costly to fix. Unless you are absolutely certain about what you are doing, don't.

DESERT VALLEY REAL ESTATE TITLES

The Palm Springs area is a checker board of fee titles (the land is owned outright) and Indian land leases. Title to fee land is transferred by use of the traditional quit claim deed and grant deed. Title to Indian land must be transferred by an assignment of the sublease. An effort to tranfer title to leased Indian land by way of a deed will be ineffective and fail.

TYPES OF DEEDS

The most commonly used types of deeds are grant deeds and quitclaim deeds. A grant deed warrants that the title to the property is good and that the property is free of undisclosed liens and encumbrances. A quit claim deed merely transfers whatever interest the grantor may have in the property, without any warranties. Generally, grant deeds are used where the property is being transferred to a purchaser and quit claims deeds are used in all other situations. Forms for both types of deeds are available in the FILES section of out website.

TRANSFERRING TITLE TO INDIAN LAND

To transfer title to leased Indian land, all of the following is required:

1. An assignment of the sublease to the new owner.

2. An agreement by th new owner to perform the sublease.

3. The agreement of the master sublessor.

4. The approval of the Bureau Of Indian Affairs to #1 through #3.

Finally, all of the above has to be recorded with the county recorder's office.

JOINT OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTY

The most common types of joint ownership of property is "joint tenancy" and "tenancy in common." With joint tenancy, when one of the joint tenants dies that tenant's interest in the property is extinguished and the surviving joint tenant(s) own the property. With tenancy in common, the interest of a deceased tenant in common passes to the deceased's heirs.

When a joint tenant dies, the status of title in the survivor(s) is disclosed on the county land title records by recording an affidavit of survivorship together wtih a certified copy of the deceased's death certificate.

PARTITION OF JOINTLY OWNED PROPERTY

As a general rule, a joint owner of property can, at any time, force the sale of the property and division of the proceeds by bringing a partition action in the superior court. A partition action is a lawsuit that, if successful, results in the appointment of a judicial officer to sell the property.