Welcome R Kenney Real Property Law

This blog is intended to educate and inform the reader about real property topics. The goal of the blog will be to provide basic real property information to the reader/subscriber on a monthly basis. The contents of this real property blog are expected to be updated the last week of every month. During the course of the blog's initial roll out I intend to provide real property basics in an easy to comprehend format. As the blog entries progress, readership builds and the real property basics have been covered I expect the blog will evolve into what I intend for it to be - a question and answer format blog driven by the needs of you the readers. It is hoped that the blog's readership will have commented on the blog posts and/or emailed sufficient questions to ray@rkenneylaw.com that the following month's blog may consist of material that is of the greatest importance to you, the loyal reader, which would be answers to your specific issues, questions and concerns. You should bear in mind, that although the information contained in this blog is intended to provide general information to all readers throughout the web, that the author is an Arizona licensed attorney so the information contained in this blog may not have application to readers outside of the State of Arizona. In addition, the information and/or opinions presented in this blog are those of the author and are not intended to be specific legal advice for any specific factual situation and/or any specific individual. Individualized, specific legal advice will be provided to an individual only after an attorney/client relationship has been established between the attorney and you the client. The use of the comment section of this blog or the sending of an e-mail for communication with the firm or any individual member of the firm does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be posted on this blog. If you are in need of immediate legal information, you may find the content located at http://www.rkenneylaw.com/realproperty.html helpful or you may contact me by email at ray@rkenneylaw.com or call the office at (623) 234-3536.
The following question was submitted on a popular legal website with my answer below.

Question: My mom quit claimed the deed to my primary residence over 4 yrs ago to me for repayment on some work I performed for her. Now apparently she never paid off the mortgage and my home is in foreclosure. Although the quit claim is recorded, I have never received notice of the foreclosure. I've never been part of the mortgage. She was just supposed to finish paying it off with the additional funds I had given her. She didn't. Can the bank foreclose on my home since my mom released her interest in the home to me. Doesn't the quit claim deed just make her loan an unsecured loan?


Answer: No, the quit claim deed does not make her loan an unsecured loan. The quit claim deed transferred to you whatever interest, if any, your mom had in the property. Under the scenario you laid out, your mother's interest in the property was subject to a mortgage. Mom cannot pass on to you more than she owned. Although you cannot be held personally liable for the repayment of the mortgage note, if you were never on the note, the mere act of Mom quit claiming the property to you does not mean the bank has lost its security interest in the property. You might want to look further into the lack of notice issue you raised regarding the foreclosure, but keep in mind that based on what you have written here, the property is still subject to a mortgage which will need to be paid even if the foreclosure has not been properly noticed.