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cowboy4884 · May 5, 2012, 01:54 PM

I had a hand written contract for the purchase of a house. The owner of the house said he was going to have the contract rewritten and we would both have to sign the typed contact, we both signed the hand written contract. The agreement came to because I had been taking care of the property for 6 years and one day the owner said that I should get the house, I said I didn't have the money and the owner said he would wave the down payment and said he would tell the bank that I gave him $10,000.00 as a down payment for the work that I had done. I told the owner that I still couldn't get financing. I asked the owner about buying the home from him for $60,000.00 at 5% interest, Id finish the repairs on the house and get it rent-able. Id rent the house out, collect the rent and keep just enough to cover the utilities & taxes. The owner said to draw it up. Well since the time that the owner took the signed hand written contract the owner had passed away & his children said that they weren't going to honor the contract, that they wanted to do a quick sale of the property as is. Current value of the property is somewhere in the area of $35,000.00... I was told that I needed to file a lien against the property to try and get the children to either honor the contract or recoup some of my losses..

LisaB4657 · May 5, 2012, 03:38 PM

You don't have to file a lien against the property. You have to file something called a lis pendens. This acts as notice that you're about to file a lawsuit concerning the property. The filing of the lis pendens will prevent the estate from selling or financing the property until your lawsuit is resolved.

Once you get the lis pendens filed you have to file a lawsuit.

cowboy4884 · May 5, 2012, 05:33 PM

This may sound dumb, I don't even know how to file a lis pendens or lawsuit.. Do I have to have an attorney or can I file a lis pendens or a lawsuit myself, If I can where do I file the lis pendens or lawsuit at..

Ken

LisaB4657 · May 5, 2012, 05:39 PM

You could do it yourself but I really don't recommend it. There are probably lis pendens forms available online for download and you would file it in the clerk's office of the county where the property is located. Preparing and filing the lawsuit would be a lot more difficult. This isn't a Small Claims matter. Most likely you'd have to file a lawsuit for specific performance in a court of equity. That's a special type of court for when you're looking for a judgment that involves property rather than money.

Before you try filing anything on your own, why not get some free consultations with a few attorneys in your area and see what they have to say about your case?

And by the way, what you've said doesn't sound dumb. I can assure you that the majority of people do not know how to file a lis pendens or a lawsuit.

AK lawyer · May 5, 2012, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by LisaB4657

... Most likely you'd have to file a lawsuit for specific performance in a court of equity. ...

In most states, law and equity have been merged. In those states, you would file in the same court for either or both types of relief; specific perormance and damages.

"Today four states still have separate courts for law and equity, although merger in some states is less than complete. Delaware is one notable example, as its Court of Chancery is where most cases involving Delaware corporations are decided. Some other states (such as Illinois and New Jersey) have separate divisions for legal and equitable matters in a single court. Although Virginia consolidated the two courts in 2006, it maintains much of the same actions and remedies." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_(law)#United_States

But Lisa is right: you really want to get a lawyer on board for this.