Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Georgia
Can I force sell inherited rental property my name is on the deed with half of the property willed to but not claimed by others
My name and the name of deceased on the title. His will left his half ownership to relatives. At time of death the bank had a lien on property due to a secret and fraudulent loan. After three yrs I finally got the lien lifted. The other owners have not closed the probate stating an inheritance. They are not on the deed. Several attempts by phone were made and messages left, stating that I have been paying the taxes, there is no longer a lien, I would like to sell the house please respond. A registered letter stating as much and requesting a response in 5 days or I will assume you no longer have a vested interest in property I a registered letter they refused pick up and returned to me. A certified copy of letter was sent also confirming delivery
2 Answers from Attorneys
All of your questions should only be answered by a lawyer who has reviewed all of the documents and facts. You refer to several documents (and there will be others) that no one here has read. Thus, you can't get a meaningful response. One thing we can agree on, undertaking this without a lawyer would be a horrible and ultimately expensive mistake. In addition, trying to force a sale, even if done correctly and with a lawyer, would be very expensive. Your letters are useless. Property owners don't lose their interest because a co-owner sends a letter.
You don't get people on or off a title by sending mail. What you probably do at that point is get them to ignore you, because they would know that yoiu do not have a lawyer and have no clue what to do. The letter was a poor move that likely will complicate doing things right.
Your rights depend, in an inheritance, on both the will, and on paperwork done in probate. To the extent you have rights under either or both, you would need to retain a lawyer for what would be a very complex and usually expensive case. It may involve some work both in probate court to force proper administration of a case, and a partition action in superior court, which, in a bad real estate market, is a great way to make sure that everyone gets far less than the real value of the property (even in a good market, it's a tough thing).
Stop sending letters and see a lawyer to review the actual paperwork.
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