Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Agreement based on fraud

Whether there is anything you can do about it, or not, depends on whether you had a written agreement or a verbal one, whether the agreement was put on the record in court, whether the judgment of divorce is now final, and whether the document from a real estate agent was an actual appraisal by a licensed real estate appraiser or merely a statement of a real estate salesman's opinion of what the house should be listed for. It also might depend on the basis for your finding that the value was $100,000 more than you had been told. If your attorney advised you to accept the opinion of a salesman who did not do an actual appraisal, that may be malpractice. If you did not have a written agreement resolving all of the issues related to the divorce, including the disposition of the house, you possibly could have changed the agreement when you found out the value of the house was so much more. If your current opinion that the house was worth more than was represented is not based on a qualified appraisal, you almost certainly have no issue, since the higher value may be no more accurate than the lower one. If the house has since been sold by your ex-wife for the larger amount, that doesn't necessarily mean that there was any fraud. Sometimes a buyer is willing and eager to pay more than anyone would have suspected. In any; casae, if the divorce is now final and you have passed the time in which you could file a request for reconsideration, there is most likely nothing you can do to change the terms of your agreement with your wife.

Re: Agreement based on fraud

That's outrageous. So you deeded over the house for zero consideration. I can see a difference of a few hundred or even a few 1000s, but 100K, that's mindblowing. Are yr. numbers reliable? You are right, it reeks of fraud. You can ask the Court to overturn the judgment. What was yr. understanding of the going price of the house when you agreed?. Getting an "official" fair mkt value on a house can be so simple. How could that "document" basing the going price not have been suspect. I think what you have is an agreement to transfer all interest in the house,REGARDLESS of the market value. So they are going to argue that it didn't matter what the real price was. Good luck. Call for more info. Joe Trevino, 1800-924-6217 in MD.

Re: Agreement based on fraud

The problem here is that you relied on the opinion of someone hired by your wife rather than procure one from someone hired by you, or at least an independent party, in deciding what to do about your equity interest in the property. As a family law attorney, I always advise clients in this situation that they aren't required to accept the property evaluation offered by their spouse. These evaluations are not a science--there's a lot of subjectivity in them. Unless you know and trust the person providing the evaluation, you should not rely on it.

If your attorney didn't give you this advice, shame on him or her. But that's not the same as saying it's malpractice. In short, you don't have to be an attorney to realize that your wife's agenda was to minimize the value of the property to convince you to sign it over to her without compensation. I also don't think you could prove fraud by the evaluating agent, unless you can prove he/she deliberately falsified information. What a house's market value is at any given time is dependent upon a number of factors. I've seen professional real estate appraisers, after a complete analysis of a property including its condition and comparable sales in the area, differ by as much as 20% on the value of a property. The only true measure is what a ready, willing and able buyer is prepared to pay for the property in its "as-is" condition. Thus, if the agreement is already signed, I doubt you'll be able to do anything about it now.

Re: Agreement based on fraud

Much of your inquiry rests on the Agreement in question. Having

an attorney review the Agreement may be beneficial and I am available at a

modest fee to accomplish this task. Thus the following analysis is speculative

as dispositive to the matter are items such as: the form, content, and language of the Agreement; whether you or

your spouse had the Agreement drafted; whether you were advised with respect to the appraisal;

the language of the appraisal contract; and, impressions (or misrepresentations) made during the course

of effecting the Agreement.

That being said, home appraisals vary. They are subjective and are based on the skill of the appraiser.

Fluctuation is to be expected. Nonetheless, a difference of $100,000 is almost unbelievable (assuming a home valued no more than $400,000 or so). Obviously, as the value of the home increases the differences with appraisals also increase. Notwithstanding a home valued more than $450,00, it is important to ascertain the valuation of

similarly situated property. If the difference in this regard is great, then a remedy may apply.

It is possible to have the Agreement set aside. Again, this all rests on the materiality of the difference with the appraisal

when compared to the total value of the property. Also relevant is the overall equity of the Agreement when taken as a whole. I presume

from the inference of your question that your spouse has retained the property rather than selling it and splitting the proceeds or partition.

In this regard, what did you derive as the countering benefit? If I presume that it was no offset to a pension, then this matter becomes complex. Nonetheless,

unconsionability may exist as a basis to pursue. Other equitable remedy may also exist.

Although it is not easy to have an Agreement set aside, contract law applies and remedies do exist for mistakes and other causal reasons.

I suggest you contact another attorney and have the matter reviewed for possible redress.

G. Joseph Holthaus III

(410) 799-9002 (Howard County, Maryland)