I am co-owner of a house in Baltimore Maryland. There is no mortgage on the house. My sister and I are the owners. There are no liens on the property. She is in agreement that she needs to come off the deed due to financial issues. Can I do this myself as there really is no money for an attorney. Can it be done without one if it meets these conditions?

Your sister has to prepare a deed "selling" her share of the property to you and then the deed has to be recorded. It's relatively easy to do but it's also easy to make a mistake, and a mistake can become very expensive.

I suggest that you have this handled by a title agency. It shouldn't be expensive and you'll know that it was done correctly. Try calling a few and ask what they would charge. Make sure you also ask them what the recording fee will be.

Why does she have to come off the deed? Is it because she is debt and you fear they will attach her share?

In any case, if she is willing you both need to sign a quit claim deed, deeding the property from you both to you alone. This constitutes a sale of her share of the property. If you don't pay her market value for her share, it may be considered a gift with tax consequences.

You can do it on your own, however, you need to check with the county recorder of deeds to determine how to properly execute and register the deed.

But it would be better to have an attorney or a title company do it for you.

Hello, thanks for the quick responses. I inherited the house from my father when he passed away two years ago. I put her on the house because she lives there and I live out of state. At the time I put her on the deed she had not informed me of her horrible credit and she is totally financially irresponsible to handle it. She informed me tonight she has to file bankruptcy and this is being done to protect me from her problems.

Can she sell the interest in the house for $1? If the house needs to be sold I have legally agreed already to give her 50% of the profits minus the monies she owes me after she didn't inform me she had not paid the property tax and water bill and the city was about to sell. I came in at the 24th hour and it cost me 6K to save it so she owes me a substantial amount which she can't pay and the house isn't worth that much so I would owe her virtually nothing anyway.

I will check with the title company as I suspect it should be substantially cheaper than using an attorney correct?



Why does she have to come off the deed? Is it because she is debt and you fear they will attach her share?

In any case, if she is willing you both need to sign a quit claim deed, deeding the property from you both to you alone. This constitutes a sale of her share of the property. If you don't pay her market value for her share, it may be considered a gift with tax consequences.

You can do it on your own, however, you need to check with the county recorder of deeds to determine how to properly execute and register the deed.

But it would be better to have an attorney or a title company do it for you.

If she's filing bankruptcy that should protect her home from creditors. Also talk to her bankruptcy lawyer who can handle the transfer.

Make the deed for $10 rather than $1. And yes, a title agency should be less expensive than an attorney.

Also, I strongly suggest that you put down your agreement with her in writing, make a copy and both of you should sign both copies. Then you will both have an agreement with original signatures in case anyone "forgets" the terms later.

I would NOT rely on a bankruptcy lawyer to handle the transfer of the property. I can't begin to count the number of times I've had to clean up transfers that were handled by attorneys who didn't know real estate.

Are either of you affiliated with a title company in Baltimore City or can you give a solid recommendation? I can't tell you how much I appreciate the quick responses. You all rock!

Look for agencies who write for big title insurance companies. First American, Old Republic, Chicago Title, Commonwealth. Any agency who writes title for any of those companies should be reputable.

Just found this. Check out their websites and you should be able to find local agents.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdinsurance.state.md.us%2Fsa% 2Fdocs%2Fdocuments%2Fconsumer%2Fpublicnew%2Ftitlec olist8-11.pdf&ei=ozWcUcOuGpSp4APR44C4Dg&usg=AFQjCNHqY7yOfHB7ZPGV4DcV5CVi1RlMzA&sig2=6YBVlJ9vUtlUhtFc-oH0Fw&bvm=bv.46751780,d.dmg&cad=rjt

Why does she have to come off the deed? Is it because she is debt and you fear they will attach her share?...

I smell fraud on creditors. If that's what is planned, the creditors can go to court to set the deed aside. And there may be punative measures available too.

Not sure I understand what you're referring to? Can't creditors but a lien on property or am I not getting what you're trying to say? I'm trying to protect ME against my sister's financial problems but taking her off the deed.

Not sure I understand what you're referring to? Can't creditors but a lien on property or am I not getting what you're trying to say? I'm trying to protect ME against my sister's financial problems but taking her off the deed.

Creditors can only place a lien on an asset owned by the debtor. So they could only place a lien on her share. Now, of course this could cause problems were you to try and sell, but the problems wouldn't be insurmountable.

But if, for example, she sells the property to you for $10 and continues to live there. A creditor could make the argument that the "sale" was a fraud to protect her asset.

A creditor probably wouldn't have much luck getting a sale set aside as being a fraud on creditors, especially since there probably wasn't any substantial payment made when she was originally added to the deed.

Instead I think the post was referring to the fact that a bankruptcy trustee can set aside any sales within the two years prior to the bankruptcy filing if the trustee believes the sale was done solely for the purpose of avoiding creditors and removing the property from the bankruptcy. However in this case I'm not so sure the trustee could set aside the sale, since the sister owed a substantial amount to the OP and was incapable of maintaining the jointly owned property.

I think that if the sister gives a deed to the OP for her share, the worst that can happen is that the bankruptcy trustee sets aside the transfer and the sister's share becomes part of the bankruptcy. I seriously doubt there would be any punitive damages since the sister's inability to maintain the property threatened the OP's ownership.

Very helpful indeed... my job is to make sure my share of the house can't be attached and affect my credit which is quite good.. I have very little on my credit that is a problem.. a small issue or two but that's it.