Recorded my grant deed after 8 years (San Bernardino: sales, real estate, rental)

[chiquitin75]

hi guys, i have a problem with my property being reassessed after i finally record the grant deed in the county.

the thing was this, my best friend put his credit history and everything to buy the house for me in 2008, the loan 100% was in his name and i just received the grant deed notarized from him giving the property to me 100%.

but i never recorded the property in the county so i was doing all the payments entirely, he never lived in the home. He just did to me the favor of buying the property, so after 8 years i finally decide to record the property and something i didn't know was the new reassessment, so my property got reassessed to the new fair market value and i want to challenge that.

my question is: do i have a case here to win this appeal?, i have the grant deed signed back in 2008 and proof i am who pay all the bills, my friend declare the mortgage interest of my home in his income taxes as a rental property because he have his own home. Someone told me that disqualify the property and the change in ownership is valid. But in my understanding that tax rule apply only if he have monetary benefit but seeing his income taxes he was making less than 50k a year, hence he was 0 tax liability already and adding my property to his income taxes won't give him any $$ benefit.

any advice in how i can handle this situation? thanks in advanced.

[CA4Now]

Maybe try contacting the assessor's office: Change of Ownership

[forzalugano]

Grant deed is more often used in arms length sales and guarantees ownership and is possible to be reassessed.

A quitclaim deed is more often used between family members or to transfer from the owner to a trust, this is called non arm length and is less likely to trigger a reassessment.

If your county office feel there is a transfer (ie: sale) they can call for a reassessment. They can determine whether a change in ownership has occurred and, if so, whether the change in ownership is exempt from reassessment.

When a change in ownership occurs, the 2 percent cap is removed and the property is reassessed at its then-current fair market value.

A transfer of California real estate between registered domestic partners on or after January 1, 2006, is exempt from reassessment.

Go to the county and complete an application on time with the county tax assessor’s office. The Claim for Reassessment Exclusion must be filed within three years of the transfer or before the property is transferred to a third party.

The California Revenue and Tax Code exempts the transfer of a principal residence from reassessment if the transfer occurs upon the death of one of the joint owners. This exemption applies to all forms of co-ownership, including tenancy in common and joint tenancy with right of survivorship. To qualify for exemption, the transfer must meet these requirements:

The transfer must occur on the death of one of the joint owners;
The two joint owners must together own 100 percent of the property as tenants in common or joint tenants;
The two joint owners must be owners of record for the one-year period immediately preceding the death of one of the cotenants;
The property must have been the principal residence of both joint owners for the one-year period immediately preceding the death of one of the cotenants;
The surviving joint owner must obtain a 100 percent interest in the property; and
The surviving joint owner must sign an affidavit affirming that he or she continuously resided at the residence for the one-year period preceding the decedent cotenant’s date of death.

Be careful how you present this as when you purchased the home this is called a "Straw Buyer" is could be considered lender fraud and an illegal act, unless your buyer bought it as a non-owner occupied unit.

Might be best to get a Real Estate attorney involved and they can look at your options and present it correctly to the assessors office.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by forzalugano

Might be best to get a Real Estate attorney involved and they can look at your options and present it correctly to the assessors office.

^^This^^

Strangers on the internet can not help you solve this problem. You need to consult with a real estate attorney about your particular situation who can review all of the paperwork and facts and advise you about how to proceed.

The San Bernardino County Bar Association has a referral service where you can schedule a low cost consultation with an attorney to see if they can help. Here is the link: https://www.sbcba.org/lrs